Avengers Summer
by JoMiSm
Summary: Third book! The first is Avengers Christmas, the second is Codename Revenge: Saving Michelle. I will have a name for the series later. Does this really need a summary? It's summer with the Avengers and everyone's favorite little girl: Michelle! Clintasha, pepperony.
1. Chapter 1

_**Hello, hardcore fans! :) it's me, JoMiSm! Who missed me? :)**_

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Ah, the first official day of summer. After Michelle had been let out of school for the last time that year, the Avengers decided to meet up with her at the tower.

"Hey guys," said Michelle, adding "And Natasha," because she deserved recognition too. "Happy summer!"

The Avengers watched the girl skip into the room. A general reply of 'Hey, happy summer,' was replied back. Suddenly, Tony sat up.

"Hey, Pepper. It's the first day of summer." He said ominously. Pepper groaned while the reference went over everyone's head.

"What does that mean, Pepper?" Asked Steve.

"Tony got it in his head last year to start a tradition. He forced happy, Rhodie, and me to go..." She trailed off. That was a traumatizing experience.

"PAINTBALLING!" Yelled Tony.

Michelle looked at Tony with a face that clearly said 'AWWWW YEAH.' They looked back at the other Avengers.

"No." Said Pepper. Steve and Thor looked confused; Bruce looked mildly amused. Natasha looked like 'bring it on,' while Clint looked more like 'why am I not in an air vent?'

"Yes." Responded Michelle and Tony simultaneously.

Guess who won that argument?

So, half an hour later, Natasha, Clint, Michelle, Steve, and Tony stood in a circle wearing paintball gear, waiting for the buzzer. Bruce had decided that paintball may not be a good idea for him; Thor merely couldn't find gear big enough and was forced to sit out by the employees. Pepper had said that if they got to sit out, she got to too, so she was sitting beside Thor and Bruce, watching the fun.

When the buzzer sounded, the two teams split up. It was Steve and Tony versus Michelle, Natasha, and Clint. Steve and Tony looked around, confused. Where had they gone in half a second? Actually, they went up. No one ever looks up. Michelle was behind an obstacle, looking up for the two assassins.

Why would Tony want to play a sniper game WITH TWO PEOPLE WHOSE LIVINGS ARE SNIPING/ ASSASSINATING /BEING AWESOME?!

Natasha dropped from the ceiling, (which was a good distance away, don't ask how she got up there), and landed soundlessly behind the two confused men who still hadn't run for their lives. "Hello, boys." She said before hitting them both several times and running for it. She wove through the floor, finally ending beside Michelle after effectively losing them.

Tony had specifically designed this course to be difficult. There were no easy open shots except where you started out; the rest was all tall, thickly packed obstacles.

Clint was lying in wait above where Natasha had led them. Just a few more steps... They were in the perfect position. Hawkeye hit them both about as many times as Natasha, sending them scurrying for cover. They never once looked up; they must have assumed the ceiling was too far.

"Okay, new plan." Said Tony, dripping multicolor paint.

"Good idea," said Steve, slipping further into the dense obstacles, about the size of trees. They stood, back to back, ready for anything.

Clint dropped down beside the two girls. "Michelle?" Asked Clint. Michelle looked up eagerly. "Your turn." He said.

"Yaaaay!" She whispered, Clinging to Natasha. That turned out to be a wise move, for Natasha pulled a grappling hook from God-knows-where, (Tony checked all the suits for hiding places!) and swiftly rose into the rafters once again, holding Michelle.

"Oh. My. God. Ima Ninja!" Whispered Michelle.

Natasha nodded, smiling. "Okay, we get above them, we drop down, and you do your thing. They won't see me. Clint and I will re-group behind them and then..." Natasha held up her gun deviously. "We win."

"Good plan!" Said Michelle happily.

Natasha stealthily put Michelle down right beside them, the men never noticing. Do not underestimate the assassins. Or Michelle. Hehehehe...

With Natasha already gone, Michelle walked up to the guys, a pout on her face and her gun held out to them in a gesture of defeat. The men whirled to face her and looked relieved when it wasn't the scary red-head or her slightly less scary boyfriend.

"Don't shoot! Don't shoot! I'm defecting!" Said Michelle, walking slowly closer. The men's attention remained on her. Good. "They wouldn't let me do anything, they said it was too dangerous to let me be in the rafters with them." She pouted. As if they'd let her fall.

At her words, Steve and Tony looked up. "How did they get up there?" Wondered Steve.

"I dunno. Ninja skillz?" Said Michelle, imperceptibly looking behind the men. Natasha and Clint were in position. "Oh my God! Over there!" Yelled Michelle, pointing to the side, away from Natasha and Clint. She jumped away from where she pointed, pulling her gun up defensively.

The men spun around to defend her, looking trustingly toward where she pointed. "Where? I don't see them." Said Tony. It never once occurred to them that 'sweet Michelle' was tricking them.

An assault from all directions answered their question. "Wha-where-Michelle!" Spluttered Tony, aimlessly shooting, blinded.

"Never trust a ninja!" Yelled Michelle, diving away from the paintballs and hitting them with quite a few herself.

In a moment, the buzzer rang again, and all shooting stopped.

"And the winners are Natasha, Clint, and Michelle!" Said Jarvis.

"You don't say."

Natasha, Clint, and Michelle stood there with not a speck of paint between them.

"You know, maybe challenging them wasn't the best idea..." Said Steve.

* * *

_**So, what should I call this series? Example: The Michelle Chronicles. (Just not that one)**_


	2. Chapter 2

_**Chaptah twoooo time! Sorry, i forgot a disclaimer. I own nothing, okay? Except Michelle, my little darling brainchild. **_

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"Guys, guess what?!" Yelled Tony, skidding into the room like an overexcited puppy. "The pool FINALLY got finished!" Of course, he had already had one, but it had been destroyed in the first battle of Manhattan. The new one was supposed to have three levels of diving boards, two hot tubs, and a pool with a mosaic of the sea floor on the bottom, not to mention every pool toy ever made plus a few he invented.

"Yay!" Yelled Michelle, jumping up. "But I don't have a bathing suit."

"I might have planned ahead..." Said Tony, leaning his head toward her room upstairs.

"Thank yyyyyoooooou!" She yelled over her shoulder, running up the stairs.

"Well, I may have planned ahead for everyone..." He said, rocking on his heels like a guilty four year old.

The Avengers filed upstairs, getting the message. "I'm kind of worried to see what he picked out." Murmured Clint to Natasha. "I mean, he's Tony." Natasha smiled, stopping on their floor with Clint. They had left the others behind a few floors ago.

As Natasha entered the room, she immediately spotted the two bathing suits on the bed. "How did he get in here?!" She said, not expecting an answer.

"I'm sorry, miss Romanoff," said Jarvis. When she had married Clint, she kept her name. It would be hard to explain suddenly being called 'miss Barton' by Jarvis in front of another agent. "Mr. Stark overrode my security on your room."

"Thank you, Jarvis." Said Natasha. She picked up the bathing suit. "Hmm, not bad. I kind of thought he would go for the 'less is more' approach." said Natasha. Instead of the expected skimpy bathing suit she would murder him for, it was a one-piece, black, with a red hourglass. It came with a sheer cover to wear over it, black also, and she appreciated the thought to detail.

Clint picked his up also. "I was expecting more purple." He said, thankful that he hadn't put more. He had kind of tried to take that colour out of his outfit for a reason. The trunks were black with a purple stripe down the sides where the seams would be.

"Well. I wonder why he was serious all the sudden?"

"Pepper." They said together immediately.

The Avengers walked into the amazing pool room. Pepper was already there, lounging in the sun in her red bathing suit. Steve's trunks were stars-and-stripes. Tony couldn't resist; his excuse was "Be thankful it's not a speedo." Bruce was wearing solid purple trunks. Well, would be wearing if he hadn't opted out of the fun to sit in a pool chair and read. Thor was wearing gray swim trunks, and he wondered why these were any different than 'midgardian undergarments.' Tony himself wore red trunks with a gold seam down the side. Now that you can imagine what they look like, imagine the room.

The wall Pepper was sunbathing beside was made completely out of glass. Don't ask how. He's Tony Stark. To the left were the hot tubs, which were bubbling merrily and looked quite inviting. Directly in front of them, between Pepper and them, was the giant pool with the sea floor mosaic. It was beautiful. Over to the right was a large doorway marked 'Pool Toys.' Michelle and Tony walked quickly over there first. (No running by the pool.)

Natasha walked over to sit beside Pepper for a while while Clint dove into the water. Thor started bouncing on the diving board giddily and Steve waited patiently behind him.

Tony and Michelle walked out of the room again, heavily laden with pool noodles, diving rings, this little robot Stark invented to swim after, water guns, and Nerf foam blasters. After setting the blasters secretly under a towel, they jumped in with all the stuff.

It only took a moment for Tony to realize that Natasha was sitting out. "Nattie, you can't just sit out!" He protested suicidally.

"I can and will sit out," she responded. "And don't call me Nattie."

"Okay, Natashalie."

Natasha sighed. "I liked Nattie better than NATASHALIE."

"Nattieeeeeee! Get in the pool!" He whined.

"No."

"But-"

"No."

"Nattie, Nattie, Nattieeeeee!"

"Fine!" She snapped. In one fluid motion, she dove into the pool with neither a splash nor a ripple and came up silently behind Stark.

"Whoa! Where'd she go?" He asked, looking around wildly. She tapped his shoulder, rolling her eyes. He splashed a few yards away. "GAH! Stop being a ninja, woman!"

She rolled her eyes again. "I'm in the pool. Are you happy now?"

"Yes." He said, still trying to slow his heart rate.

Natasha swam gracefully through all of the pool toys and climbed up the ladder. So far, no one had dove from the high dive; it simply was too far away. You could actually get injured.

Natasha climbed the ladder quickly, standing on the top board in a few moments. Michelle surfaced from diving for pool rings and looked around for her. Finally, she looked up with everyone else. "Natasha! Be careful!" She yelped. She was afraid of heights.

"Clint?" Asked Natasha.

Clint looked thoughtful for a moment. "Hands, two, top your last record." He said. The others looked confused. That sounded like gibberish to everyone but Natasha.

"What was my last record?" She asked.

"Twenty." he responded.

Natasha took two steps back as Clint had instructed. The avengers watched, trying to hide their curiosity but failing utterly. Launching off of her hands, once again, as instructed, she flipped far too fast for anyone to count except for her partner. She slid into the water with barely a ripple from that scary height far above them.

Coming up without the customary gasp for air, she immediately asked "How many?"

"Twenty-three." He said.

"Wait, what?! That's not possible." Said Tony.

"Jarvis, how many flips did I do?" asked Natasha sweetly.

"Twenty-three, ." He said. Natasha looked at Tony.

Tony sighed. "Traitor." He muttered at the ceiling.

The Avengers went back to swimming. After a little while, Tony snuck away, seemingly unnoticed. Sliding his hand under the towel, he picked up the Nerf shooter.

His target, Natasha, was currently dodging splashes aimed at her by Michelle.

He put the gun up slowly, carefully, and pulled the trigger. The little Nerf dart whizzed at Natasha's profile. About half a second away from hitting her, she put her hand up and snatched the dart out of the air.

"Seriously, Stark?" She asked, tossing the dart back to him.

"Epic fail." Added Michelle.

"HOW MANY TRAITORS ARE GOING TO BE IN MY HOUSE TODAY?"

The response was six people splashing him simultaneously.

"Oh, it's on." He said, jumping back into the pool.

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_**Thank you, hardcore Michelle fans. :) review! **_

_**-JoMiSm**_


	3. Chapter 3

_**Sorry! It's been a while, I know. I have been at my grandparents with no wifi, and then I started #furylies, another fanfic, which you should go look at. :) EXCEPT IT LEFT OFF THE # WHAT THE HECK!**_

* * *

Thanks a lot, Miss O' Reilly. Michelle's English teacher had decided, last second, to make them read three books to be read and reported upon before the end of summer. Michelle is naturally a bookworm, but come on. Hanging out with the Avengers vs. reading some books because your English teacher is evil.

Sympathetically, the Avengers settled down to read with her. Natasha was reading a worn copy of White Fang which Michelle had tossed at her. Though not a particularly challenging read, Natasha enjoyed it more than a teen vampire book.

Steve was reading Twilight because Tony had forced him to watch the movies. He looked like he was trying, and failing, to hide the fact that he actually kind of liked the books. He was slightly confused at a lot of the tech and references, so he sat beside Bruce so he would explain to him.

Clint was reading The Hunger Games because Tony called him 'Katniss' or 'Everdeen' all the time. He wanted to figure out if that was an insult or a complement; so far it looked like a compliment. Except for the fact that she is a moody teenager torn between two boys-GAH! TWILIGHT!

Tony was reading a comic book hidden inside The Theory of Relativity. Their past is WAY more interesting in comic form versus SHIELD files.

Bruce was re-re-re-re-reading the odyssey. Ah, good ole Homer. Thor was away to New Mexico, visiting 'Dear Lady Jane.'

Michelle was reading Avengers: A novelization. Though she'd seen the Avengers enough times to quote every line, she liked the book version too. She annotated occasionally, gathering notes for her book report. She was at the clintasha moment every single clintasha shipper waits for. "Awwwwww..." She murmured. "In this book I can read your minds. Your thoughts are so mushy, guys, it's disgusting." She said, raising an eyebrow at Clint and Natasha from her position on the couch. Considering she was hanging upside down, her expression was hilarious.

Natasha rolled her eyes. Clint didn't look up; if he wasn't a stone-hearted assassin, he would be sobbing. He was already mentally screaming 'NOOOOOO! RUE! WHYYYYYY?!'

They went back to their books after the brief interruption, the only noise being Michelle's pencil scratching down a book report. The peacefulness of the moment was not lost on the Avengers; this very rarely happened to them. They expected Loki to burst through the window or the Chitari to sneak up the stairs. For once, they enjoyed an everyday, though rapidly dying, activity that we all take for granted.

It was a perfect moment.

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_**I KNOW IT'S SHORT BE QUIET *Sob* AT LEAST I POSTED SOMETHING!**_

_**-the very sorry JoMiSm **_


	4. Chapter 4 part one

_**Lalala this will have another part. **_

* * *

"ANTHONY EDWARD STARK!" yelled Pepper.

Half a second later, the billionaire in question dove under the kitchen table at top speed. "Quick guys, if you're really my friends, YOU WILL HIDE ME!" He whispered urgently.

The Avengers scooted in their chairs around him, except Clint, seated on top of the refrigerator, and Natasha, sitting beside him, dangling her feet over the edge. "That's never going to work." She said, taking a sip of her coffee.

Pepper stormed in. "Hey, Pepper!" Said Michelle cheerfully, jumping up to hug her from her spot on the far side of the table. Pretending to just notice her angry expression, she looked concerned. "What did Tony do?"

'Gee, have zero faith in me, why don't you?' Thought Tony.

"He bought-" she caught sight of Tony's jacket. "There you are!" She growled, pulling him out by the back of his coat as he was trapped by his friends legs. "He bought his own theme park!"

Clint rolled his eyes. "Doesn't he already have the Stark Expo?"

"I mean THEME PARK. Like, roller coasters and water slides." Said Pepper. Her eyes narrowed at Tony. "What on EARTH made you buy a THEME PARK?!"

Tony tried to make a break for it, but Pepper's grip on his jacket was iron. "I just thought it'd be cool!" He protested.

"You just thought it'd be cool. You... Just..."

Natasha facepalmed from her perch on the fridge. "He didn't just say that." She murmured to herself. Waving her fingers, she caught Tony's attention. "For. The. Kids." She mouthed carefully.

"I-I mean, I did it for the children!" he said quickly.

Pepper's expression softened for a moment. Before she could scrutinize his expression to see if he was lying, her phone rang. "This isn't over," she said, but you could tell she had cooled down just enough for Tony to squirm his way out. She walked out of the room, her phone to her ear.

Tony jumped up on the counter and hugged Natasha. "Thank yooooou! You just saved my life!"

In an instant, he was on his back on the floor with a knife held to his throat. His breath left his body with an 'oomph!'

"I don't do hugs." She said, whisking the knife back to God-knows-where. As she leaned casually against the fridge, he could now see the arrow pointed at his face.

"Don't hug my wife." growled Clint.

"Sorry, sorry," he said, holding his hands up. He stepped behind Michelle. "But guys..." He looked around, still behind Michelle. "I have a theme park that isn't open to the general public yet calling my name."

* * *

Michelle skipped into Stark-land, the Avengers assembled around her in their 'civilian' wear. Pepper had come along too, but everyone could tell she would just be holding lukewarm water bottles and Natasha's purse the whole time while the others rode rides. She was more of the do-my-taxes-on-the-free-wifi type.

Michelle hid it well, but she was afraid of heights. So, roller coasters didn't seem like the best idea to her. But naturally, she didn't tell that to Tony, who immediately proclaimed "WE ARE GOING ON THE DEATH SPIRAL FIRST!"

The Death Spiral. In contrast to the overly-bright coloured machinery around it, it was all black and silver, skulls and crossbones, doom and gloom. It was a nearly vertical ascent followed by so many twists and turns, and yes, spirals, that Michelle didn't even try to count.

Pepper sat out, as predicted, holding all of the loose items the others didn't want to lose on the ride. Bruce chose to sit with Pep for obvious reasons. Steve looked a little nervous but agreed; Clint shrugged but was secretly fangirling. (Two Little known facts about Clint Barton: He loves roller coasters and hates ice skating.) Thor was up to any and every thing he was allowed to do. Natasha looked down at Michelle. Her hands shook behind her back. "Alright!" She agreed cheerfully. Natasha nodded. They took their seats. (If it matters, Steve sat next to Thor, Natasha sat beside Michelle, and Tony sat beside Clint.)

Natasha held Michelle's trembling hand as they were buckled in. She looked like she was trying not to hyperventilate. "Michelle, you don't have to do this." Murmured Natasha.

Michelle didn't even attempt to deceive her. She clung to Natasha's hand like it was a life preserver. "It's too late." She whimpered as the ride started.

The ascent nearly gave Michelle a heart attack. Adrenaline-that's what makes most people ride roller coasters. Well, she certainly had enough of that, but she hated the feeling. It was fight-or-flight reaction time, but she couldn't run away.

Then they started downhill. The guys joyful whoops drowned out Michelle's terrified scream. Natasha was silent, watching Michelle. Natasha squeezed her hand reassuringly. Michelle didn't notice; she was too busy wondering why she ever got on this demon ride in the first place.

They went around the loops and bends, Michelle's death grip on Natasha's hand never wavering. The guys, all at once, noticed how terrified Michelle was. The young girl was struggling, and failing, not to hyperventilate. She was facing her worst fear, other than fire.

Then, true to Murphy's Law, something went wrong. At the highest point on the machine, while everyone was upside down, the car suddenly stopped. Everyone jerked forward harshly, then stopped.

Michelle sobbed.

Despite Steve's soothing words and Tony's promise that it was already being fixed, it will only be another minute, Michelle was inconsolable. She had opened her eyes for a brief moment, but the world spiraling away below her made her shut her eyes again.

True to Tony's promise, the machine started again. Michelle suffered through another half of the ride before it finally stopped.

Natasha helped Michelle out of the car, finally giving up and picking her up because she refused to open her eyes and she couldn't keep her balance. "It's okay, it's okay," murmured Natasha.

As they walked toward Pepper and Bruce, they stood in concern. "Michelle?" Asked Pepper, alarmed. She looked accusingly at Tony. Tony didn't bother to explain to Pepper; he was already busy looking at Michelle worriedly.

Michelle buried her face in Natasha's hair, trying to force herself to calm down. Hyperventilation is not something she preferred to do. Natasha sat on the bench where Pepper had been sitting a few moments ago. She rubbed Michelle's back consolingly, some of the soothing words finally getting through. The guys were shocked; it still amazed them how she could go from I WILL KILL YOU WITH A PENCIL mode to Mother Hen mode.

Michelle sat up, wiping her eyes. She stared at the ground, refusing to meet anyone's gaze. "I'm sorry." She said quietly.

The guys tripped over each other trying to reassure her, but Michelle felt terrible. What good is it to go to a theme park if you can't get on any roller coasters?

Natasha made Michelle look up at her. "How about the carousel?" Asked Natasha. Michelle felt babyish, but she nodded.

The group walked over to the carousel, which was far away from the death spiral. Michelle got on a white unicorn BECAUSE IT WAS SPARKLYYYY! Natasha got on the black stallion that just so happened to be beside it. Pepper actually chose to ride, and sat on one of the immobile seats meant for parents to watch their children. Tony sat beside her, sighing at the boringness of the chosen seat. Steve sat on a white horse, feeling rather silly. Thor was excited to do anything at all and sat on a pink Pegasus. Bruce somehow ended up on a chicken. How in the world a chicken got on the merry-go-round, Bruce will never know, but it made Michelle giggle, so he was happy.

As the ride started, everyone had to laugh at Thor who continued to declare that he was winning because his Pegasus was in front. The carousel was exactly what Michelle needed for her to calm down and get back to her cheerful mood; Natasha must be some kind of wizard.

As they got up, Michelle and Tony both spotted the small 'to be painted' sign in front of the Tunnel of Love. Right now, it just looked like a gray tunnel leading into a gray building. Tony positioned himself in front of the sign and winked at Michelle.

They had some assassins to trick.

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_**Anyone want to hear a story involving me on a scary roller coaster? Just ask. I'll pm you. ;)**_

_**-JoMiSm **_


	5. Chapter 4 part 2

_**Pft, Tony wishes. **_

* * *

"Hey, Nattie!" Called Tony.

Natasha sighed. "Natasha. My name is Natasha. What do you want, Stark?"

"Well, Nattie, if we're going down that road, my name is Tony."

"What do you want, Anthony?" She amended with a smug smile.

Tony rolled his eyes. "I bet you can't ride the tunnel o' doom." He said, gesturing to the unpainted tunnel of Love.

Natasha glared. "I'm not an idiot, Stark. What kind of 'tunnel of doom' has a boat shaped like a cheesy gondola?" It's true. Right there in plain sight was a very obvious gondola.

Tony cringed. Busted. Yeah, everything doesn't always work out for him. "Well, I bet you can't ride the Tunnel of Love." He amended.

Natasha rolled her eyes again.

Michelle piped up. "Aww, come on you love birds, go on the ride." She said, tracing a heart in the air with her fingers.

Clint jumped in. "Only if Tony and Pepper go first." Natasha's glare redirected to her partner.

"Hey, I'm cool with that. Come on, Pep!" He said, seizing her wrist and dragging her onto the ride.

Pepper gave Clint the evil eye as Michelle clapped happily. The couple was whisked away into the tunnel.

A few minutes later, the ride whisked out Pepper and Tony. Pepper stepped out with a haughty sniff, followed clumsily by Tony.

"Your turn." Said Pepper, shoving Clint towards the tunnel. How dare he drag her into this?!

Clint, in true Tony fashion, grabbed Natasha's wrist and drug her over to the ride. She yanked her arm free and sat down in the cheesy boat.

They were whisked away like the couple before them.

The inside was...pink. Very very pink. Hearts everywhere. Swans and Cupids and even Aphrodite, once. Natasha glared at the stupid decor like she could set them on fire.

Clint put his arm around her with a trademark teasing grin. "I love you." He said, kissing her cheek.

Natasha rolled her eyes. "Oh, the cheesiness." But that didn't stop her from kissing him back.

A few moments later, they were whisked back out of the ride. Natasha gracefully jumped out before the ride fully stopped. "Ugh. Too much...pink."

Clint closely followed her, excepting the fact that he waited until the ride fully stopped.

They walked to the next nearest machine, the bumper cars.

Natasha stepped into the only black car there. Michelle grabbed an orange one, only caring that it was the most glittery. Tony and Pepper shared a car, Tony taking the wheel and Pepper pulling out her phone. Heh. This place also had good wifi. Thor crammed himself into one of the little cars after getting a brief tutorial from Pepper, along with Steve. Steve hopped into a red car.

Clint sighed. The only car left was purple. "Forget you guys."

They bounced around for a while, Natasha and Clint teaming up and never getting hit. Thor still didn't quite get it, so he basically spun the wheel around and rooted for Michelle.

They went on several more rides before the sun started to set in the distance. They all climbed onto the concession stand roof to watch the sun set beautifully behind the Ferris wheel. The colors spread across the sky like God decided he wanted to paint with watercolours.

As they drove home, Pepper gave not one thought to all of the money spent on the theme park. Tony was really relieved! Natasha and Clint sat there together, Natasha's head on Clint's shoulder, until Michelle pretty much fell asleep. Then Natasha allowed Michelle to lean her head against her arm, leaning away from Clint to make it easier for Michelle. Thor was pretty much just chattering away, but much quieter than usual because Michelle was dozing off. Steve was staring out at the beautiful night sky before the city lights dampened out the beauty of the heavens. Bruce read his ever-handy book, his mind on his lab experiments already. He hadn't really gotten to participate, but seeing Michelle happy was enough for him.

I think it's safe to say, Stark-land was a huge success.

* * *

_**So? What did you think of Stark-land. ELEKAT IS AWESOME, she has r&red every one of my stories, like, immediately after I post them. SHOUT OUT! Go read her story. Go. Shoo. **_

_**-JoMiSm **_


	6. Chapter 5

_**:) sorry so short. **_

* * *

When Natasha woke up, she was surrounded by Pink.

Everywhere.

Her bed was hot pink. The floors, ceilings, and walls were all a pale pink. Her entire closet, normally full of black, white, and red, was full of pink, pink, and, you guessed it, pink.

Natasha, cringing away from the horrid colour, walked over to her computer. She logged on, glaring at the sparkly pink mouse. Using Jarvis, she pulled up video of her room.

Tony had actually come into her room. HER. ROOM.

Oh, he shouldn't have done that.

* * *

The following day, Tony finally fell asleep. He had a lot of trouble, naturally. Natasha had walked down the previous morning in her hot pink outfit without so much as a glare in Tony's direction.

Frankly, Tony was scared.

So it was smart of him to try to stay awake. But resistance is futile.

Tony woke up.

Walls-normal. Clothes-normal. Computer-normal.

Tony was baffled, but happy. He had beaten the widow! HE HAD BEATEN THE WIDOW!

Then he walked down to his lab.

His ironman suits were highlighter yellow. Along with every other thing in the room. Tony had to shut his eyes to keep himself from being blinded. Pulling on some shades, he looked over to his car collection.

"NO!" He yelled, running over to his precious metal babies.

Bright yellow with orange glitter. He tripped over the paint cans, so he read the labels.

Permanent.

"Jarvis, TELL NATTIE THAT'S NOT FAIR! I ONLY USED SEMI-PERMANENT ON HER ROOM!"

"Yes, sir." Said Jarvis. But it wasn't Jarvis. It sounded like Alvin the chipmunk had married an American teen.

"IS NOTHING SACRED, NATASHAAAA?" Screamed Tony, falling to his knees dramatically. Which was a dumb move, because the floors were concrete. With a yelp, he curled up into a ball, defeated.

Natasha smiled in the air vent.

Do not mess with the black widow.

* * *

_**Sorry. So. Short. I. Know. Shut. Up. Elekat-get the reference?**_

_**-JoMiSm **_


	7. Chapter 6

_**And you thought it was over... LOL.**_

* * *

"What the-?!" yelped Michelle, diving out of the way of a high-powered stream of some modified version of silly string.

"TIMES!" Yelled Tony, holding up his arms.

Cease-fire settled across the extremely disheveled living room. The two couches were turned over, the television shattered, and silly string covered most surfaces.

"What's going on...?" Asked Michelle cautiously.

Natasha stood, no silly string on her. "Tony decided to make the prank war personal."

"Choose a side." Said Tony. His hair was full of silly string, that seeming to be the main target. He looked positively ridiculous; his serious face no where near matched his disheveled look.

Steve, Natasha, and Clint seemed to be on one side, Bruce, Tony, and Thor on the other. (Bruce was really just sitting behind the couch handing canisters to Tony for the safety of everyone there.)

Michelle thought for a moment, but...you know Michelle. She is a hardcore Black Widow fan. She carefully walked over to the couch which hid Natasha's team, avoiding overturned furniture. Tony shot her a look, like 'you traitor!,' and dove behind the couch, signaling for open fire again.

Clint disappeared. No one payed him much attention; the feud was mainly between Natasha and Tony. Steve dove for his shield, which Tony dove for at the same time. They scrabbled for it, but...Tony didn't have the suit on. So...you know who won that. Thor tried, and failed, to shoot Steve with silly string, but the small cans didn't cooperate with his big fingers. Natasha slid something out into the middle of the room.

It beeped softly, catching no attention in the chaos in the few seconds so far of the battle. No one could ignore the thick tendrils of smoke that burst out of the small device. In the space of a moment, the room was full of smoke.

"NATTIE!" Yelped Stark, stumbling over something-God only knows what. "NO FAIR!"

"No rules, Anthony." She replied.

When the smoke cleared, Natasha's team was no where to be seen.

Clint was biding his time in the air vents. Now, a silently smiling Michelle was lying beside him. (Don't ask. He's Tony Stark; his vents are huge.) Natasha had immediately whisked her up there when the smoke had started. In front of them was a stockpile of silly string canisters, half of them from Tony's team.

Natasha, in her catsuit, crouched silently. On the ceiling. Her Black Widow outfit had never ending tricks, one of them being minute suction cups in her gloves and boots. Tony should consider reading more into the suit functions instead of her past.

Steve was crouched behind a doorframe, his mind working overtime to consider angles at which he should throw his shield or to sneak attack Tony... Tony had no clue what he was getting himself into when he started this. No idea at all.

Tony looked around wildly. As usual, he didn't look up. You'd think he'd have learned by now.

Like Thor. Thor had learned by watching the paintball, surprisingly. So, Thor looked up and spotted Natasha on the ceiling.

"FRIEND STARK-" started Thor.

"Not now, Thor, I'm looking for Nattie." He interrupted.

"BUT FRIEND STARK-" began Thor again, backing away from the assassin on the ceiling.

"What, Thor!" Snapped Tony, whirling around to face him. Thor pointed, silent for once, at the ceiling where Natasha was struggling not to laugh. Thor then wisely dove behind the couch.

Tony slowly looked up. "What the-?!" Was all he had time to choke out before the assault began. He is lucky he banned all real weapons, or he'd be dead. All of his enemies shot silly string simultaneously from all directions.

When Tony opened his eyes again, he was surrounded by enemies with Thor still trying to figure out how to work the canister behind the couch.

"Ready to surrender, Tony?" Asked Michelle sweetly.

Tony almost nodded... Almost.

"Remember the conditions of surrender?" Said Natasha. Oh, yes, he remembered. The loser had to apologize AND replace the painted/damaged/replaced things. On a SHIELD salary, Natasha couldn't afford to lose! Not that that would be an issue.

Tony sighed and nodded just as Thor figured out how to work the canister. A thin spray of silly string sliced through the air, about to destroy the truce...

And hit Tony.

Tony glared at Thor and shuffled out of the room. "PEPPERRR? GET MY CREDIT CARDS."

* * *

_**And...end prank war! :) I will actually die if you don't review. Seriously. **_

_**-JoMiSm **_


	8. Chapter 7

_**Hey guys! So. I got a request. It inspired me. If you don't ship Steve/Maria, GET OVER IT CUZ I DO. :) **_

* * *

"I'm booooooooooored." Moaned Michelle, flinging her arm over her eyes, sprawled on the couch.

"So'm iiiiiiiiii." moaned Tony, mimicking Michelle's position on the other couch.

Pepper sighed. No, they weren't in the living room, despite the two couches. They were in her office, out of all of the other places to be in Stark Tower. "Well, why don't you go... Read a book?"

"We already did that." They replied simultaneously.

"Why don't you go... watch a movie?" suggested Pepper, tapping her pen impatiently.

"I'm living in a movie." Replied Michelle, changing her position so that she was hanging upside-down over the edge of the coach.

"What she said." Said Tony, remaining in his position.

"Why don't you... Go to the beach?" suggested Pepper, going from tapping her pen to twirling her hair.

"The paparazzi always find me." pouted Tony. Michelle didn't respond, but her gaze was on Pepper. Pepper seized the opportunity.

"Well, go to your private beach." She said.

"Oh yeah. I forgot about that." said Tony. Leave it to Tony to forget about his private beach.

_Almost back to my work... _Thought Pepper, slowly turning back to her computer.

"But you have to come with us." Added Tony.

"Tony!" Said Pepper, dropping her head into her hands. "I have work to do!"

Tony stood and swiveled her chair, forcing her to look away from her fingers. He pressed a gentle kiss to her lips, his arms going around her.

"Oi! Keep it PG, guys!" Said Michelle, covering her eyes.

"Please?" Pleaded Tony to Pepper. Pepper's face remained doubtful, but doubtful was better than a straight up no.

Tony whisked Michelle off of the couch, setting her on her feet and whispering in her ear. Michelle listened with an incredulous look, but when he was done, she nodded.

Pepper sighed when Michelle skipped over and gave her puppy-dog eyes. "Pleeeeease come with us?" She pleaded.

Those eyes. They bore into your very soul.

"Okay, fine!" Said Pepper, throwing her hands up. "I'll go with you!"

Michelle smiled and skipped over to Tony, none too discreetly holding out her hand, the other on her hip. Tony rolled his eyes and handed her a twenty dollar bill, shooting a sheepish look Pepper's way. Michelle blew him a kiss and skipped away, the twenty clutched in her hand.

"Tony..." Said Pepper chidingly. "Paying off a little girl to guilt me into doing things is not nice."

"But Pepperrrr..." Said Tony, kissing her cheek. "It worked, didn't it?"

* * *

One hour, one one-hundred-dollar-richer Michelle, and one plane ride later, the Avengers, plus Maria Hill and Michelle, were at Tony's private beach.

I suppose I should explain Maria.

Just as the Avengers were walking out the door, agent Hill was walking in. Long story involving Michelle and Tony pleading later, Agent Hill was officially on her way with a brand-new bathing suit Tony happened to have on hand.

"I still don't see why I had to come." Said Maria, walking off the plane between Pepper and Natasha.

Pepper shrugged. "I had to come! It's only fair, Maria."

Natasha was a bit more perceptive, her eyes darting between a certain Captain and Maria. "Mmm." She murmured, not confirming nor disposing of Pepper's theory.

"What? What do you think? Said Maria. She knew Romanoff a bit too well for that. Natasha decided to stay out of it and shrugged with Pepper. But she knew the truth; Tony was playing matchmaker.

Maria had no more time to interrogate Natasha before The Black Widow was pulled into the ocean by Michelle. The sweet little girl could be persistent, so Natasha saved time and followed her immediately. Pepper was literally dragged into the ocean by Tony...

And then there was one.

Maria wasn't going to intrude on the Avengers fun in the water; she just didn't feel comfortable jumping in like that. So she rolled out her beach towel, lent to her by Natasha, and sat down, feeling very intrusive as she watched the others fun in the water.

She was briefly distracted by a seagull which hopped daringly close to her. When she looked up again, Steve Rogers was walking towards her. A nervous looking Steve Rogers. Why would he look nervous?

"Excuse me, agent Hill, do you mind if I sit here?" _Is it just me, or is he blushing? _

_Nonsense. It's sunburn. _

"Go ahead." She said, gesturing to the ground beside her.

He sat down beside her, and they watched the others awkwardly for a few moments.

"And it's Maria." She added, looking over at him.

Tony discreetly watched them go from awkward silence to friendly chatting in just a few minutes. _HOLY COW! DID MARIA JUST LAUGH?! _ "And... Matchmaker Tony strikes again." Said Natasha, splashing him, thus making him realize he had been staring.

"Well, sorry, they're just such a cute couple!" He protested.

Well, that made everyone glance over there simultaneously.

"WHAT ARE WE LOOKING AT, FRIEND STA-"

"Ssssssshhhhh!" Hissed everyone.

Michelle walk/hop/floated over to Thor. "We're spying on Agent Hill and Steve." She loud-whispered at him. They were far enough out that they couldn't hear them anyway.

"WHY, SMALL WARRIOR MICHELLE?" LOUD-whispered Thor back.

Michelle then had to explain that Tony was being a matchmaker, which led to an informal definition of matchmaker, which led to a definition of dating, which led to a reference to Jane...

Her explanation was interrupted when she noticed something small, pink, and squishy hovering by her leg.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" She shrieked, splashing away from Thor. "THERE'S A JELLYFIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIISH!"

Next time Steve and Maria glanced up, there was a stampede of superheroes splashing frantically out of the water.

"Jellyfish." Said Natasha at their confused look. She sighed and picked up one of Michelle's little sand shovels, wading back into the water fearlessly.

"NATASHA BE CAREFUL THERE'S A JELLYFISH IN THEREEEE!" Yelled Michelle from a safe distance away on the beach.

"You don't say." She yelled over her shoulder, scooping up the tiny offender in the shovel. She then walked nonchalantly back to the beach and buried the poor little guy. "Okay. You're good." She said, rolling her eyes at the chickens she worked with.

After a chorus of 'Thank you, Tasha!,' the team was back in the water.

Except Tony. Tony walked over to Maria and Steve. "Hey, I didn't invite you just so you could take up space over here." He said. Before she could protest, he grabbed her wrist and pulled her toward the water. Maria, taking it all in a stride, reached behind her and grabbed Steve's hand.

As Tony pulled Maria and, consequentially, Steve into the water, he maaaaay have splashed Natasha. A lot.

"What the heck, Stark?!" She yelled, censoring her language for Michelle and spitting out salt water. Without a second thought, she splashed him in the face and dove under to avoid the splash returned by Tony. After all, her hair was already wet thanks to Tony.

Tony's return splash hit Maria in the face. Aware that Michelle was semi-floating right beside her, Maria held back what she was going to say and settled for splashing him and stepping behind Thor, who was big enough to make a good shield.

Turns out that, for a genius, Tony was pretty darned stupid. He splashed in Maria's general direction, but instead hit Thor and Michelle.

Thor engaged in hydro-combat like a five year old.

Meanwhile... "What the-?!" Sputtered Michelle, trying to regain her already unsteady footing. The others didn't realize that what seemed like a perfectly safe depth to them wasn't a safe depth for Michelle. Everyone was engaged in a full-out splash battle around her while she was, well, semi-drowning.

Michelle's feet struggled to find purchase, but she had been standing on her tiptoes in the first place. Time seemed to go in slow motion as Michelle's eyes met Maria's before slipping under.

"Michelle!" gasped Maria, shoving Tony aside. Something in her tone made him let it go, but he couldn't really see what was going on through the salt water in his eyes. In a moment, Michelle was embraced firmly in Maria's arms, safe.

Maria stepped away from the boys, who were just realizing what had happened. Natasha and Pepper were trying to get them to shut up while glancing worriedly over there.

"Are you alright?" Murmured Maria, still keeping her hold on the little girl.

"Yeah." Said Michelle, but she was trembling. "Thank you."

Maria noticed her unease. "Why don't we go build a sand castle?" She suggested gently. Michelle's grateful nod was all Maria needed. Maria carried Michelle over until they reached sand, then she reluctantly set her down.

"Michelle!" Called Tony, hurrying to shore. "Michelle." He said again. "I'm sorry."

Michelle smiled. "It's cool. But I do owe you this." She said, unceremoniously tossing a pail of water in his face.

"I guess I deserved that..." He said, wiping his eyes.

The other Avengers assembled around Michelle, murmuring apologies and joining in on the sand castle. By the time it was done, everyone was laughing and the castle was taller than Michelle.

Of course, Natasha was chasing Clint around with a handful of sand by the time they were done, because they really couldn't be in the same approximate area without either kissing or nearly killing each other. They pretty much ended up doing both.

Natasha finally caught up to him after a moment, having already hit him in the back with the sand-ball a little ways back. "Tasha!" He complained as he got pelted again.

"Clint!" She mimicked. "You're the one who got sand in my hair!"

"Well, can we be even now?!" He requested, dodging more sand.

Of course, they walked back hand-in-hand. Clint was good at bribing her with coffee and chocolate. Unlike Tony, they remembered that Michelle was there, so Clint purposefully kissed Natasha's cheek. Much more PG rated.

"Awwww," Said Michelle, her clintasha shipper side coming out. "You guys look like a couple of lovestruck teens." Michelle continued on the sand castle, which by now she couldn't reach the top of. She settled for working on the moat.

When she looked up again, she was getting some pretty funny stares from her use of the phrase. "What?" She asked, offended. "I watch TV! Gosh."

In a few hours, after a full day including a 'picnic' lunch and dinner, (Everyone called it a picnic, but it came from Tony's not-so-mini fridge.), and another jellyfish sighting, The Avengers, plus Maria and Michelle, were watching the sun go down over the ocean.

As the brilliant colours spread across the sky, everyone agreed that they could wait a little longer. When the stars came out, everyone gave up and sat back down on their beach towels. Michelle struggled to stay awake, after all, this may be her one chance to see this many stars. But a full day caught up to her and she fell asleep, curled up on her beach towel between Pepper and Tony.

Natasha sat beside Clint, obviously. Pepper was separated from Tony by the sleeping Michelle, but she couldn't mind because she was sooo cute... Thor sat alone, gazing at the heavens and thinking of how he used to do the same with Jane. Bruce also sat alone, his expression unreadable, forcing himself to only think about the stars instead of Betty. Steve still sat beside Maria, but it was far less awkward than at the beginning of the day.

Tony spied on the 'couple of master assassins' he had made admit their love for each other. That had worked out fine. He wondered if he could do the same for Steve and Maria...

* * *

_**So... Review. You person whose request I did... ;) did ya like itttt?**_

_**-JoMiSm **_


	9. Chapter 8

_**ANGST! ANGST! SO MUCH ANGST! Just...I'm sorry, I was inspired, I was bored, thanks to xXGaurdianheartXx for the idea. And thanks to her sister who is a fan also! SHOUTOUT MY PEOPLES!**_

_**Warning: angsty angsty angst! **_

* * *

The Avengers, plus Michelle, minus Bruce and Thor, stood in front of a haunted house. No one knew why they were there, but everyone sort of assumed it was Tony who had made the huge place.

They walked through the front doors together, Natasha and Clint laughing quietly at the cheesy exterior and Michelle already looking frightened.

They walked down a long hallway together, the dim lights flickering menacingly. Natasha placed a comforting hand on Michelle's shoulder. Michelle looked up at her and smiled. If Natasha wasn't scared, Michelle wasn't either.

At the end of the long hallway, there were four doors, each inscribed with an Avengers name. There wasn't a door for Michelle. Tony stepped into his room quickly.

His room was not his worst fear like everyone else's. His room had video feed from the hidden cameras. He was ready to see everyone's reaction to their worst fears. He hadn't made the rooms, so he was wondering what they were. He had just put their files into the computer and it had done all of the work.

Steve walked into his room next. Suddenly there was an army in front of him. The neighborhood boys who used to beat him up mixed with Hydra goons. There were even a few of his old comrades, which he remembered most every day. But what kept him from panicking internally, (he would never show it on the outside), was the glimpse of red hair he got from the back of the room.

They had Peggy.

Steve launched himself at them, his arm slicing through several. He was confused, but that made them easier targets, so he continued. He didn't know they were life-model holograms.

He fought, defeating them all quickly, knowing Peggy, his Peggy, was back there somewhere. When the last soldier was gone, he turned. There she was, not a day older than when he left her. Running over to her, he wrapped her in a hug instantly. She hardly had time to wrap her arms around him before she disappeared, a hologram like all the others.

Steve fell to his knees. He had lost her twice.

* * *

Clint walked into his room next. Barney, his brother, walked out from behind one of the several circus tents. "Hello, baby brother." He sneered.

Lets just say the last time they parted, it was NOT on good terms.

Clint, like Cap, launched himself at his enemy, shoving his fear aside to deal with later. As soon as he touched his brother, he disappeared.

Clint looked around. What was he supposed to do now? He shrugged and turned to leave the room, but his exit was blocked by his other ex-circus buddies. He shrugged and gently swiped his hand through them, knowing they were holograms. In a few moments, he walked back out into the hallway unscathed.

* * *

After Clint came back unharmed, Natasha went into her room. Michelle had wanted to go in with her, but Natasha had no idea what was in there. Clint promised to keep her out of the room.

Natasha walked into the room.

She immediately recognized it.

She screamed.

Her terrified scream was heard in the hallway and on Stark's footage also. She had good reason. She was literally in her worst nightmare. The Red Room.

"Клинт! Помогите мне!" She yelled, finding she couldn't open the door. Clint didn't understand the Russian, but he understood his name.

"Nat! I'm coming!" He yelled back. Michelle watched, wide-eyed with fear, as Clint tried to open the door but couldn't. Steve chose that moment to walk out of his personal hell, looking slightly sad but otherwise hiding his emotions well. Steve immediately saw what was going on and walked over.

"On three." He said, motioning to the door. They backed up, and on three, kicked the door. It exploded inward in a shower of splintered wood and metal fragments.

"Держись от меня подальше!" Yelled Natasha, trembling in the corner she had backed herself into.

"Tasha! They're holograms!" He yelled.

Natasha couldn't hear him. She was trapped in her nightmare. Only this time, it was real.

Clint ran over, running his hands through her old trainers and other trainees and graduates. "Tasha." He said soothingly, the holograms gone.

The problem was, he looked enough like her trainer to keep her in her nightmare. "Я сожалею! не делайте мне больно!" She whimpered, covering her face from the expected blow.

"Tasha, it's me, Clint." He murmured soothingly. It didn't work; she continued pleading for mercy in Russian but expecting him to punish her. Red Room punishments were nothing to be scoffed at.

"Natasha?" Asked Michelle. She had walked in silently behind Clint and Cap, not wanting to stand in the hall by herself. She had witnessed the whole thing. Now she walked gingerly over to Natasha, worried.

Michelle gently pushed away the two men who were crowding her. "Natasha?" She said again. Natasha didn't respond. "Natalia?" She murmured, hoping she wouldn't respond to that name.

" я извиняюсь, я не буду идти против заказы снова!" Whimpered Natasha back.

Michelle's unexpected hug made Natasha stiffen, but somewhere she recognized the sweet little girl. "Michelle?" She asked, her Russian accent bleeding through.

"Yes, I'm Michelle and you're Natasha. Everything's okay now." Promised Michelle, looking up at her.

Michelle stepped back and Clint took over.

Tony stopped watching from the cameras. He really hadn't meant for anyone to freak out like that; the computer had designed the whole thing. Unlike every person in the room, he could understand every word spoken thanks to the auto-translator.

He stepped out of his room, seeing Natasha walk out of hers at the same time, her instinctual stony mask on. She couldn't control the shaking, though.

They walked back to the car and left behind the haunted house. That term was technically true after their experiences there; it was haunted by the bad memories that no one would forget any time soon.

* * *

_**SORRY SORRY SORRY DON'T HURT MEEEEEE **_

-JoMiSm

_**P.s. what happened to my bold/italics on my signature?! :(**_


	10. Chapter 9

_**This will be multi-part. **_

* * *

Natasha, against all odds, was forgiving when Tony apologized to her. He felt horrible about causing the panic-attack a few days before. He might have felt a bit better if she was angry at him; instead she was quiet and dismissing every time he brought it up.

Tony decided to leave her alone and go sulk in his lab, trying to think of a suitable way to apologize. Just a few minutes after he got down there, Pepper called him to her office, her professional tone still in her voice.

"Yes, Miss Potts?" Asked Tony teasingly, poking his head through the heavy door. Pepper waved him in, a glare directed at her desk. The call she was on wasn't particularly frustrating, but it was the straw that broke the camel's back. She slammed the phone down onto its hook.

Her face rested in her hands for a moment, her fatigue showing through. Then, with a sigh, she looked up at Tony. "Your cabin," she began with a sigh. She, of course, continued, but Tony didn't hear her. The wheels in his mind were turning.

Pepper obviously needed a vacation; even he could see that. Not to mention, he hadn't been to his cabin in so long that he had almost forgotten about it in general. It would also be an awesome team-bonding trip...

"Pepper, we are going to the cabin!" declared Tony, startling Pepper.

"Okay..." She said, pulling up her holographic calendar. "What days do you think-"

"Just clear our schedule!" He called over his shoulder carelessly, walking out the door to tell the others. Pepper sighed good-naturedly, used to Tony's antics by now.

* * *

Steve sat quietly on the couch, reading yet another book he had missed out on. Tony bounded in, the puppy metaphor all too well describing him.

"Assembleeeeee!" called Tony, not seeing Steve sitting in his corner of the couch.

"Tony?" Asked Steve, looking up from his book. An empty room greeted him, Tony already running into the next room. He had an intercom system once upon a time, but Thor had thought someone had been trapped in the wall. Yeah...Tony had in uninstalled after the twelfth hole in the wall.

"Assembleeeeeee!" Called Tony, jogging past the lab. Geez, this was a huge workout. Maybe a few holes were worth it in the long run...but no time for that now. Bruce glanced up, wondering if he should follow the instruction or not. Ultimately, he would end up assembling anyways... With a sigh, he began the walk upstairs, getting in the small bit of exercise he missed most days in the lab.

Tony continued the demand past the library, where Michelle was hanging out with Thor, trying to teach him a little bit of Midgardian slang. Next, he trekked past the gym, where he assumed Clint and Natasha would be, and the movie theatre, where they actually were. Eventually, everyone assembled in the common room.

"I," began Tony, "have an important announcement."

"You just gained another billion dollars." Guessed Natasha.

"No, I-" started Tony.

"You just re-wrote the theory of relativity." guessed Clint.

"No, I-"

"You and Pepper are getting married!" Guessed Michelle, completely confident in her choice.

"We are going on a trip!" Yelled Tony. The room was silent for a moment, then a few looks were exchanged. A trip to where, exactly? With Tony, it could be space or the centre of the earth.

Tony went on to explain about the cabin, and told everyone to pack immediately because "We leave at dawn! Or noon. Whichever's more doable."

Michelle walked back to her apartment with Steve to get permission and a bag full of clothes. A quick phone call and two bags later, Michelle, Steve, and Michelle's father were back at the tower. Mr. Joyce insisted on either coming along or Michelle staying home; after her kidnapping, he was a bit wary, though she would be staying in a cabin full of superheroes.

Everyone else was packed; the scheduled plane ride for the next day, however, couldn't be moved up because of the busy schedule of Pepper. In result, the Avengers were sitting around conversing with Mr. Joyce with Natasha as translator, which was far less awkward than it should have been. They even learned his name.

What was it?

* * *

_**review to find out. Sorry I take so long, I have a horrible case of writers block. Or, more like writer's excuses. :( sorry. **_

_**-JoMiSm **_


	11. Chapter 10

_**Sorry this took so long...writers block...**_

* * *

True to Tony's word, the plane left the ground at twelve o' one. Unfortunately, Tony's secluded cabin was eleven hours away, including the hour-long stop for dinner around six o' clock.

Michelle was seated temporarily beside Clint and Natasha. Clint was teaching her origami, another hidden talent besides pancake making. That was sure to entertain her for a little while. Natasha was gazing out the window quietly, peaceful classical music playing through her headphones.

Thor was sitting, practicing his inside voice, talking to Jane. Tony had finally managed to fly Jane in for the trip. Steve was quietly talking with Michelle's father, who responded via good old fashioned notebook. They had quite a lot in common, it turned out.

Tony and Pepper sat together, watching a movie Pepper'd picked out. To be fair, he had picked the last, oh, infinite number of times they had watched a movie, it was a bit unfair.

Bruce sat alone, doing basically the same thing as Natasha, right down to the composer.

Half an hour in, Clint had exhausted his supply of origami for beginners, so Michelle migrated over to Bruce, who looked lonely.

After another half hour, Michelle had basically done all of the activities available to her, including meeting Jane. Michelle was shy at first, surprisingly, but soon opened up to Thor's favorite Midgardian. Jane quite liked the converse-clad eight year old, and felt sure that Michelle would like her friend Darcy...another day, perhaps?

So, Michelle sat there, bored, for a bit, staring out the window. Tony finally had pity and set up a movie for her to watch. Michelle picked Brave. (NO IT'S NOT BECAUSE MERIDA IS OBVIOUSLY NATASHA AND CLINT'S CHILD. YOU CAN PROVE NOTHING.)

So, two hours later, once Brave was over, Michelle was officially out of ideas. Good thing Tony was there.

"Hey Nattie," began Tony. That's the greatest way to start a sentence, huh? By tempting an assassin?

"Yes, Anthony?" Said Natasha, rolling her eyes.

"What's your least favorite accent to fake?" He asked, his face completely serious. He had been pondering this for a good five minutes, and it seemed to him like a life-or-death issue. Or it could just be the plane ride.

Natasha blinked. "The one I'm doing right now." She said, keeping her voice exactly the same.

"But you aren't doing an accent!" exclaimed Tony. He may be a genius, but his common sense level is dangerously low.

"I'm Russian, you idiot." Said Natasha, letting her Russian accent bleed into her annoyed words.

"Um, duh." said Michelle, giggling.

Tony facepalmed. "You know what I meant. One that we haven't heard."

Natasha thought for a moment, glancing over at Clint. They both apparently thought of the same memory, because they smiled simultaneously.

"German." snickered Natasha. Oh, that's practically begging Tony to ask.

"What happened in Germany?" Asked Tony curiously.

"We weren't anywhere near Germany." Said Natasha.

"Well, what happened?!" Said Michelle, just as curious, if not more so, than Tony.

"Well, Clint and I were in Mexico," started Natasha, ignoring Tony's raised eyebrows. Get your mind out of the gutter, Tony. "And I had to be a tourist from Germany."

Natasha, of course, went on, which led to Michelle wanting to hear another story about a mission, and that lasted until the dinner stop. Natasha was a great storyteller.

After dinner, they got back on the plane. Long story short, it was eleven before they arrived, and Michelle had fallen asleep. There was that awkward moment when you're so used to carrying someone inside that you cut in front of their dad... But Mr. Joyce brushed it off and picked up his daughter, despite probably being the weakest person there. Michelle tucked safely into bed, the others immediately fell asleep also, having had a long day on a plane. They would have to explore Tony's cabin tomorrow.

* * *

_**Well...I am writing another story, which is yet to be named, and it is dominating my mind right now. I'll post it in a sec.**_

_**-JoMiSm **_


	12. Chapter 11

_**Sorry, I've been focusing on Itsy-Bitsy spider! **_

* * *

The place was _huge. _

The cabin itself was minimal, with a bedroom, kitchen, bathroom and small living area, all decorated tastefully. But that had been built when Tony bought the place, and Pepper fell in love with the charming little cabin. Tony left it as it was. The guest bunks, however, Tony had built.

There were several in a semi-circle around Tony and Pepper's cabin. Michelle and her father's cabin had three stories, all huge. The first floor had the kitchen and living room, the second, Michelle's father's room and his private bathroom, and the third, Michelle's room and private bathroom. Michelle's room also had a skylight, so she could see the night sky from her bed.

Natasha and Clint's was only a slight variation; theirs had a shared bedroom, seeing as they're married, but they each had their own bathroom, _thank god. _Two assassins sharing a bathroom... A ladder lead to the roof, where there was a beautiful view of the lake below. Steve's cabin had lots of books in his bedroom, seeing as he tends not to sleep. Bruce's cabin was mostly identical, having many books also, but his cabin had the added bonus of a telescope. Thor and Jane shared a room, like Natasha and Clint, a bookshelf, like Steve, and a telescope, like Bruce, all of which they ignored, sitting in front of a campfire behind the cabin. They talked for hours, staring at the stars and making up lost time.

The next morning, everyone woke up, but no one was sure where to go. That is, until the tantalizing smell of pancakes coming from Cabin Assassin lured them there, one by one.

Thor showed up first with a reluctant Jane in tow; she felt rather rude knocking on the door of some assassins, who she barely knew. Natasha showed up at the door, her hair pulled up in a pony tail, wearing black yoga pants and a white shirt, all covered with an apron which was _obviously _not hers. It said _kiss the cook_. _N__ot _Natasha's style.

Natasha noted the look of discomfort on Jane's face, though she tried to hide it. "I'll have Clint make some more pancakes." She said, motioning them in, directing a small smile Jane's way.

They walked back into the kitchen, Clint looking up when he noticed the others footsteps. He still managed to catch the pancake he was show-offishly flipping midair. "Morning Point Break. Morning Jane." He greeted, adding more pancakes for the Asgardian.

"Good morning, Eye of Hawk!" greeted Thor, sitting down.

"Good morning." Said Jane quietly, sitting beside Thor.

The next knock brought Michelle, her father in tow, closely followed by Tony and Pepper. Michelle waited for Bruce and Steve to show, but it became apparent that they weren't going to show up."I'll be right back." She promised, skipping out the door.

A timid knock on Bruce's door made said scientist look up from his book. He opened his door to an impatient looking Michelle. "You are going to Natasha and Clint's cabin for pancakes." She said sternly. After a little more convincing, Bruce followed Michelle to Steve's cabin. She worked her adorable little-girl magic on him also, and she triumphantly returned to the pancake-fest being held at Cabin Assassin.

And pancake-fest it was. Thor must have eaten a dozen, and Steve probably matched that. Bruce, Natasha, and Jane settled for one delicious pastry. Clint and Tony ate two; both Pepper and Michelle ate half, but the pancakes were huge. I mean, fill-up-the-whole-plate-so-there's-nowhere-to-fit- the-syrup huge.

"Dude. If this assassin thing doesn't work out, you are becoming official pancake-chef of the Tower." Said Tony, leaning back from the table.

"Back off. He's my chef." Said Natasha. At Clint's amused glance, she added "and husband..."

"Friend Barton, you really must bring this delicacy to Asgard!" Chimed in Thor.

Pretty soon, a friendly argument about who should get Clint's pancake talents commenced. Natasha ended up victorious because "He is my husband; I am obligated to his cooking talents." After some not impressed looks, she added "and I can kill you all." She accompanied the statement with the a casual flip of a knife, which she caught and pointed at Tony, all while taking a casual sip of coffee.

"Geez, you win, you win!" He said, cringing away.

* * *

_**Enjoy the fluff guys. Next chapter-angst! I think. And maybe some Loki. Maybe. Don't hold me to that though. ;) **_

_**-JoMiSm**_


	13. Chapter 12

_**Hey! :) **_

* * *

After the amazing breakfast, everyone disassembled. There was only _one _second where no one was looking at Michelle, and she disappeared in that one single moment. It wasn't her fault this time, though, she didn't just wander off!

During that one moment, Michelle was teleported via Heimdall deep into the surrounding forest. With a gasp, she stumbled and fell, having no idea what had just happened. But she wasn't completely alone either.

She was accompanied by a surprised looking Loki.

* * *

"Where's Michelle?" asked Steve suddenly, the moment having passed. The Avengers looked around, baffled. Where could she have gone in one moment?

Suddenly, out of the clear blue sky, a flash appeared _far _away in the forest. Everyone but Thor and Jane looked confused.

"Heimdall?" said Thor, looking at the sky.

"Why would he teleport her...?" asked Jane.

The others tried to catch up in the conversation, trying to figure out where Michelle was, but figuring since Heimdall, a good guy, had sent her, she couldn't be in any immediate danger. Right?

* * *

Michelle was behind a tree.

_Loki is right there!_ thought the terrified Michelle. Quickly, she peeked around the trunk of her wooden savior. Loki was looking curiously in her direction, her being the only living being he had seen so far. She quickly pulled her head back behind the tree, blinking back tears.

Every instinct she had said to run as fast as she could, but that would only get her more lost.

She peeked around the tree again, nearly having a heart attack when she came nearly face to face with Loki. With a startled gasp, she stumbled back. Loki's expression still wasn't hostile, though it was now mildly amused.

"Please don't hurt me!" pleaded Michelle, quite literally a child at prayer.

"I can't." said Loki, his expression changing to mild annoyance. "I've been drained of my powers. I had to _walk _instead of teleport." he said, irritated at this small discomfort.

Michelle, still trembling, stood. A little flash of hurt, though well concealed, crossed Loki's face at the fact that a little girl was so afraid of him. Michelle saw it, though, and asked "So, were you really in control in Manhattan?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, some people think you were controlled by the Glow-stick of Destiny like Clint was. I mean, your eyes changed colour and your personality changed after head trauma, like him, too." said Michelle. She'd always sort of felt sorry for Loki in the movies, but he caused the attack that killed her mom-that pretty much squashed the pity.

Loki looked astonished. "How do you know that? Not even my brot-" he abruptly changed to "-Thor believed me!" But it still sounded like Bro-Thor, so that attempt failed.

Michelle scrambled to her feet, not bothering to answer him. She darted behind another tree, peering around the trunk, terror in her eyes. "Why are you-" started Loki.

"Shh!" She said instantly, her terrified gaze not on him after all. "Behind you." she whispered faintly.

Loki turned, a huge black bear sniffing the air in their direction.

Well, that's just great.

* * *

_**Anyone else notice that Michelle looks like Loki? Dark hair, green eyes, pale as a flipping ghost... Yeah, that wasn't intentional. But she does! :D**_

_**review! **_

_**-JoMiSm**_


	14. Chapter 13

_**Hai! I'm sorry that this story gets put on hold for **__**Whatever Happened in Budapest? **__**And **__**The Itsy-Bitsy Spider**__**. I'm just finding it harder and harder to write this story. I'm sorry guys. **_

* * *

The bear shuffled closer._ What is this? It smells funny. But it's in my territory, and that's unacceptable!_ The bear huffed at Loki angrily.

Loki was caught completely off guard by the paw that struck him out of nowhere, sending him flying back to beside Michelle. The instant he landed, Michelle dropped to the ground, lying facedown in the leaves. Tilting her face slightly toward Loki, she whispered urgently "Play dead!"

Loki was about to ask why, but the bear was meandering closer, and the girl appeared to have some knowledge of what she was talking about. Loki assumed 'Hulk just smashed me like a rag doll' position.

Only an instant later, the bear was there, snuffling around them. _Did I kill it? Good. It's dead, right? Yeah, it seems dead. What's this? Another one? It's dead too, right? Yes, it's dead too. _The bear triumphantly turned, meandering slowly away.

Michelle didn't move until she was positive the bear was truly gone. She stood shakily, but forced her voice not to shake, but to show authority. "We have to move. We're in his territory, and it's only a matter of time until he finds us again." she said, brushing leaves off of her jeans.

The authoritative tone in her voice irked Loki. "And why should I listen to a child?" he asked.

"Because this child just saved your life." She said, not caring about his comment. "Now come on. He went that way," she said, pointing to the bear's direction. "So we should go this way." She turned in the opposite direction and pointed again. She then looked at Loki again, and her expression was clearly 'either you come with me or wait for the bear.'

Loki, irritated, nodded, and they set off. Michelle walked in silence, trying to ignore the fact that she was walking next to her Mother's murderer. Loki wondered why in all the nine realms that she knew so much about bears. (If you really must know, Ms. O'Reilly made her write a report on an animal, and her teddy bear is a black bear...)

The silence grew and grew as they walked and walked, every tree looking the same. Michelle took note of this fact, and she finally stopped in a small clearing. Loki looked at her curiously, wondering at her reasoning. "When you're lost, you're supposed to stay in one spot. We've probably gone far enough for the bear to ignore us, therefore, I am staying in one spot." She said resolutely.

Loki wondered at the girl. He was Loki, and she was completely ignoring that fact. She knew more about the woods, therefore, he was expected to follow her lead, despite the age difference.

Michelle, with a sigh, looked up at the sky.

"What're you doing?" asked Loki finally, the first words he'd spoken since asking why he should listen to a child.

"Waiting for Tony. He has to fly over eventually." reasoned Michelle.

It took a moment for this statement to sink in. Tony... Fly over...? "Are you speaking of Tony Stark?" He asked, dreading the reply.

"Mm-Hmm." murmured Michelle, still peering at the sky hopefully.

No... No... She knew Stark! Oh, that's just the icing on the cake!

* * *

"Pepperrrr! Where'd you put the suit?!" Yelled Tony from his bedroom.

Pepper poked her head in the door. "I put it beside the suitcase, in the closet." She said.

Tony fished it down from the top of the shelf. He was soon outside, finding it easier to start off there. In a moment, the suit was on, and Tony was Ironman.

A moment later, Thor met him in the centre of the cabin semi-circle, mjolnir in hand and Jane beside. Natasha and Clint were the next to show, and Jane was sort of frightened by the intense change in the two. They'd gone out of their way to be friendly to her this morning, and now they were intensely focused, and their outfits visibly showed many weapons, much less the many hidden.

"Oi, guys, the weapons really necessary?" asked Tony.

"They're always present, you just don't always know it." said Natasha cooly. Michelle was missing again; Natasha wasn't messing around.

The next to show was Michelle's father, then Steve and Bruce.

"Okay, guys, assignments." started Tony. "Natasha, Clint, on the ground. We saw the lightning about half a mile out to the northeast-you start from there. Thor and I'll search from the air. Steve and Bruce..."

"I'm pretty much useless in this scenario. I'll stay with Jane and Pepper and prepare for when you get back, just in case anyone needs medical." Said Bruce.

"Steve can come with us in case we need backup." Said Clint, sparing him the embarrassment of having no job.

"Okay. Avengers, move out." Said Tony, flying into the air with Thor and slowly flying over the woods, having Jarvis scan for Michelle in the clearings where he could. Natasha, Clint, and Steve headed out on foot into the dense forest, ending up at the spot Michelle was last known to be in about ten minutes. They move fast. Michelle was missing, and they were on the search.

In a small clearing, Natasha saw an odd disturbance of leaves. Brushing them away carefully, she saw a footprint, halfway eclipsed by a bigger one. Michelle's was obvious, but who was the other? "Michelle was here with a full-grown male." reported Natasha, judging by the size, shape, and weight distribution of the print. She stood, looking at the leaves around them.

"That way." said Clint, pointing at another small disturbance of leaves a ways to the right. They followed the trail of small disturbances until they came up short. Steve glanced around, wondering how on God's green earth that they could distinguish those leaves from any others, and he spotted a large patch of leaves that were obviously trampled.

"Um... Over there?" He tried, gesturing behind the tree.

Natasha looked, and nodded, seeing the trail go from there. She touched her comm. "Stark, we've got a trail." said Natasha, beginning to follow it, the boys following.

Tony heard her, soaring over the forest. "Good." He said. "Which way should I go?"

"Two degrees west from your current path." Said Natasha.

Tony adjusted accordingly, heading for a small clearing about a mile ahead. The ground team followed the path quickly. Tony and Thor arrived first, obviously, and Michelle grinned triumphantly. Tony stopped dead in his tracks in the air, which is hard to do.

"Guys... A little issue."

Loki watched fairly calmly as his brother landed between himself and Michelle.

"What are you doing here, Loki?" He asked angrily. In everyone's eyes, it looked as though he'd kidnapped Michelle.

"You have as much knowledge as I." said Loki placidly.

That's when Natasha, Clint and Steve showed up. An arrow was immediately in Clint's bow, pointed at Loki's face. Steve had shield in hand, and Natasha charged her Widow's Stings. "Told you I'd need them, Stark." she said cooly, not taking her eyes off of Loki.

Loki peered around Thor at Michelle. "So, not only do you know Stark, but the whole team as well?"

"Mm-Hmm." said Michelle nonchalantly, looking up at Tony, who landed beside her. "He can't hurt you. He doesn't have his magic." She added, seeing their defensive postures.

"Um, no offense Michelle, but he's the god of trickery. Did it ever occur to you that he's lying?" said Tony.

"Yes," said Michelle, "That was the first thing I thought of. But if he didn't use his magic on a bear that was going to attack him, I don't think he has it."

The Avengers stood, silent, contemplating this and then realizing what Michelle had said. If there'd been a bear, it'd seen her too...!

"Michelle, are you okay?" asked Tony slowly.

"I'm fine, why?" At their incredulous looks, she realized they'd gotten worried about the bear. "Oh, the bear. Um, I'm fine. I played dead." Thank you, Discovery Channel.

"Okay, so you're okay?" Asked Natasha. Michelle nodded. "In that case, lets get on with it." Natasha tossed a pair of SHIELD escape-proof handcuffs to Thor. (Haha... Escape-proof... Until the Russian Assassin was brought to the base... Another story for another day.)

Thor deftly snapped the cuffs on his brother's wrist, and oddly, he didn't protest.

"So... Back to the camp?" said Tony.

"Back to the camp." Agreed Steve.

* * *

_**Holy... Crap... That was over 1,000 words. 1,495. Dude. Wow. **_

_**Review this historically long chappie! **_

_**-JoMiSm **_


	15. Chapter 14

_**Another Michelle book has been begun, called Before the Avengers. Go read! :D Disclaimer: I don't own anything except the title of Biggest Black Widow Fan in the Universe. You try to claim my title, I will find you. And I will kill you. **_

_**Rawr.**_

* * *

Loki got put in Tony's spare cabin, but he remained cuffed and got the addition of chained feet, also. It would be a couple of days until the plane could get here, and so... They were stuck with Loki. Aside from checking to make sure he was there every few hours, Tony decided to ignore the trickster completely.

The local geography included a serene lake, and Tony's toys included a boat... And an in inner tube. Fun is guaranteed. After convincing the whole team, plus Jane, Michelle, and her father, they ended up on the lake.

With Bruce as the designated spotter, (fun fact: it's illegal to do any water sport without someone to tell the driver when they fall off.), and Tony as the driver, they were all set. Thor seemed to enjoy the high speeds, Jane clinging to his arm, frightened at the high speeds the crazy billionaire was going at. They sat at the back, Bruce beside them. In the chair beside the 'Captain,' Steve sat. Natasha and Michelle sat on one side of the front of the boat, Clint and Michelle's father on the other. Pepper fit where she could, in the 'queen of the world' position.

In the middle of the lake, Tony stopped, climbing to the back and hooking up the inner tube. "Who goes first?" Tony asked, looking around the boat. Michelle hopped up, waving her hand around. "Okay, Michelle." Tony said, High-fiving her on her way past. Michelle hopped onto the inner tube, grabbing the handles. Tony shoved her out away from the boat, going back to his position at driver. "Ready?" Called Tony.

"WOOO!" Michelle happily called, giving the 'hang loose' sign.

Tony started the engine, and Michelle managed to cling to the floating circle for a good five minutes before getting slung off, wiping spray from her eyes and cheering. She climbed aboard the boat to many loud congratulations from Thor, who'd been convinced by Tony that this was an ancient Midgardian tradition.

Thor went next, the poor inner tube sinking down a bit under the asgardian. He fell off at the first turn, spluttering water, but also declared this Midgardian custom "fun!"

Steve was half-shoved onto the inner tube by Tony, and he managed one more turn than Thor before flying off, crashing into the water with an impressive splash. He popped up, stunned, from under the water, glad for the heavy-duty life jacket.

When it got to the next turn, everyone looked to Jane, who looked somewhat envious at the fun they were having. "I want to go... But I don't want to go alone..." Jane said, nervous. She'd never done anything like this before, and it looked kinda scary.

Her options were kinda limited. Thor would sink the inner tube, she couldn't go with another guy...that would be awkward...and Natasha didn't look like she wanted to go. "I'll go?" Volunteered Michelle. Perfect! No awkwardness.

"Thanks!" Jane said, surprised. Jane got on first, Michelle hopping down afterwards, and they held on to the handles. As they got shoved away from the boat, Michelle noticed Jane's look of nervousness.

"Don't be afraid." Michelle said comfortingly. "It's really fun." Jane smiled, seeing the irony of the situation.

"Thanks." Jane said, almost immediately afterward startled by the boat moving forward. Dear God, the boat was going _really_ fast! Jane glanced at Michelle, who looked positively elated. How in the world...?

As they started around the first curve, the momentum pushed them over the wake. The falling sensation was _terrible. _Jane involuntarily screamed, causing Michelle to look at her, concerned. "You okay?" Michelle asked, loud enough to be heard.

"...I'm fine, it just scared me for a second." Jane said, embarrassed.

Michelle was silent for a moment, and Jane thought perhaps she didn't hear her. Finally, Michelle spoke her words of wisdom. "Well, the water can't hurt you, so why're you scared?"

It was Jane's turn to be silent, and the people on the boat found it odd that they had already shared so many thoughtful looks while being dragged by a boat. "I don't know!" Jane said, feeling rather silly at her irrational fear. It was only water! Nothing to worry about!

It was a good thing she got over her fear, because Tony took advantage of their distractedness and sharply turned, throwing them harshly and unexpectedly into the water. They went soaring, landing close to each other.

Jane came up smiling; Michelle came up coughing.

"Are you okay?" Jane asked, swimming over to her while Tony turned back for them.

"Fi-" She coughed. "-ne, I just got water-" cough, cough. "Up my nose!" spluttered Michelle. A moment later, Tony picked them up, and all was well.

Well, until Tony had to challenge the most deadly person on board.

"Oi, Jane Bond, your turn!" Tony said, gesturing to Natasha.

Natasha's eyebrows shot up. "Jane Bond? _Really?_" Natasha said.

"Yes. Now get on the inner tube." Tony said, completely serious.

"No."

"But-"

"No."

"But-"

"No."

"Natashaaaaa pleaseeeee?" Tony begged, trying the puppy-dog eyes.

Natasha blinked. "You just called me Natasha." she said.

"Did I? I meant Nattie." Tony amended.

"Too late, Stark. You said Natasha." Clint snickered.

"Shut up, Everdeen, and help me get her on the inner tube!" Tony said.

"Will you go if I go with you?" Clint tried, on Tony's side for once.

Natasha sighed. "If I get my hair wet, you all die." Michelle looked up in adorable confusion. Natasha parted her damp hair. "Except you."

"Tony, don't get her hair wet!" Steve said. "I don't particularly want to die!"

Natasha shrugged off her life jacket, Clint doing the same thing.

"What're you doing?" Michelle asked.

"They restrict movement. I can swim just fine." Natasha said. If she could swim after jumping off a sixty foot cliff... Yeah, she can swim in a lake.

"What if you hit your head?" Michelle protested.

"That's what a partner's for." Natasha said. Natasha and Clint jumped onto the inner tube, ready for the ride.

Tony slung the thing left, right, and a combination of the two, going over bumps and speeding up and stopping rapidly. Nothing worked! They were unshakable! Finally, the darned tube flipped over, Clint surfacing immediately. Natasha didn't, however, and as the boat turned to get Clint, the tube flipped over, an angry Natasha still holding on.

"She didn't fall off." Bruce reported dutifully.

"What?! The thing flipped over!" Tony yelped, glancing back. Yep, soaked assassin on a rubber inner tube. Clint climbed aboard, looking back at his dripping partner now standing (how is that possible?!) on the now still inner tube.

"You." she whispered menacingly. "Got." She stepped onto the boat, everyone leaning Away from the terrifying ticked-off assassin. "My." She stepped over the seat. "Hair." she stepped toward the cowering Tony. "Wet!" She growled, pulling a knife from WHO THE HECK KNOWS WHERE because she was wearing a BATHING SUIT!

"EVERY MAN FOR HIMSEEEEEEEEEEEELF!" yelled Tony, jumping overboard, terrified.

"I can swim faster than you, Stark." Natasha growled, jumping after him.

The rest of the boat watched after them, shell shocked.

"Well. I'm glad I'm safe. Dunno bout you guys..." Michelle said, sitting back down.

All the rest of them paled as they realized they weren't safe either.

Dear. God. Have. Mercy.

* * *

_**Leaving for Panama City Beach in six days. Go look at Before the Avengers!**_

_**Review!**_

_**-JoMiSm **_


	16. Chapter 15

_**Five...days... *gasp* need...vacation... Speaking of need...anyone need a beta reader? **_

* * *

After they got back to the camp, Tony with several bruises but still alive, Tony attempted to start a campfire. He struck the match...

Fail.

He struck another match.

Fail.

He tried a lighter. It was empty.

Fail.

"Uuuuugh! Someone else do it!" Tony yelled, throwing down the lighter angrily. Pepper sighed, rolled her eyes, and took the box of matches, striking the match quickly and efficiently.

_Fwoof. _A tiny flame appeared, and Pepper touched it to the kindling. Soon, a merry campfire was crackling, warming the cool summer night. Tony sat beside her dejectedly, mumbling something about 'not fair' and the word 'girlfriend' in there somewhere.

"Oh, be quiet." Pepper said, sitting beside him with a kiss on the cheek.

Tony smiled at that. "How do you even know how to light a fire?" he asked, his male pride injured.

"Well, first off, it's not difficult to light a match."

"-beg to differ-"

"and I've lit the fireplace at home."

Tony blinked. "It's not...a gas fireplace?" he asked, clueless.

"No." Pepper said patiently. It's kinda sad he doesn't know these things.

"Well..." Tony said, feeling rather awkward though Pepper found it amusing. "Looks like you're getting another raise when we get back." Pepper laughed, finding his 'money is the solution' strategy funny.

"I'll toast to that." Pepper said, reaching behind her, paaaaast the champaign, and grabbing the two mugs of hot chocolate. Tony took his, surprisingly okay with the lack of alcohol, and they toasted the cups, looking up at the stars.

* * *

Behind the next cabin was Natasha, Clint, and Michelle. Will, Michelle's father, had already gone to bed.

In a similar situation to Tony's, Natasha was trying to start her campfire, but the matches either snapped or refused to light. Her companions watched, smothering giggles, as Natasha got more and more irritated. Finally, she snapped.

"You." she said, pointing to Clint with a frazzled match. "I will shoot." Michelle sat there happily, sure of her safety. "And you," she said, pointing the match at Michelle. "I will tickle."

Michelle's eyes widened in horror. "You wouldn't!" She gasped, horrified.

"Try me." Natasha replied. Michelle not-so-subtly scooted to the other side of Clint.

After turning back to the pile of wood, Natasha _finally_ got a match to strike. Quickly, she lit the fire. It ever-so-slowly caught, but Natasha was proud of their little fire. Victorious, she sat beside Clint.

Michelle's romance alarms went off in her mind, seeing the fire and the moonlight and the view over the lake... Michelle yawned. "I'm tired." she said. "I'm gonna go to bed." She stood, giving Clint and Natasha a hug goodbye. A moment later, she was gone.

Natasha leaned her head against Clint's shoulder, gazing at the flickering flames, and Clint draped his arm over her shoulder, taking advantage of the rare display of affection. No words were spoken, but they didn't need words to tell each other how much they loved each other.

* * *

Steve started awake, still startled by seeing dazzling blue eyes instead of the warm brown ones he was used to. Trying to calm his breathing, He stared at the ceiling, wondering what he should do. It felt like he was betraying Peggy... But he couldn't stop himself from thinking about Maria. He was stuck between the past and the future...

He decided to live in the present and see what came of it.

Turning over, he tried to go back to sleep, his mind running wild and preventing him from getting any in the long run. With a sigh, he got up and started another book one of the teammates recommended. A wrinkle in time? Seemed fitting. He started reading.

_It was a dark and stormy night. _began the book. That was so contrasting to the clear, beautiful sky outside that Steve cracked a smile, continuing.

* * *

Thor cracked open his eyes, looking around in the dim light from the window for his beloved Jane. She wasn't in her usual place, snuggled up to him in bed. "Jane?" called Thor, semi-softly for him.

"Right here." she replied quietly, walking toward the bed. She didn't look very good, but was trying to hide it.

"Are you alright?" Thor asked, alarmed but still in a half-asleep state.

"I'm fine." Jane said, sitting on the edge of the bed.

Thor looked unconvinced, and you have to be quite unconvincing to not trick Thor.

"I don't feel very well, but I'm okay." Jane said. She felt queasy, but she'll live. At least, that's what she told herself.

Thor was still unconvinced, but he knew of nothing he could do to help. With a resigned sigh, Thor made room for Jane on the bed. She laid down slowly, as to not upset her stomach more, and laid her head on his chest. Thor, looking (and feeling) very much like a kicked puppy, Thor fell asleep shortly after Jane.

* * *

And Bruce, what interesting thing happened to Bruce? Bruce was sleeping. End of story.

* * *

_**Loki'll be mentioned next chapter. Poor Jane... hehehehehe... Wonder if any of you will catch on to what I am babbling about. **_

_**-JoMiSm**_


	17. Chapter 16

_**I'm THAT predictable...? **_

* * *

Michelle awoke early, not able to go back to sleep. So early, in fact, that she watched the sun rise into the sky over the trees, the stars slowly vanishing.

As she laid there, trying to go back to sleep, she thought of the previous day. Loki seemed... Different. Because he was. He hadn't fought back, he hadn't resisted, he hadn't even given a snarky comment. He came peacefully. So the blue-eyes theory... It was true. Loki wasn't a bad guy after all... Though Michelle still found it hard to forgive him.

Hitting a wall on that train of thought, her mind drifted. She was suddenly hit with a pang of guilt when she realized no one had given Loki any food, or even any water. She stood, quietly sneaking to the kitchen. There was a difference in imprisonment and cruelty, and that is where she drew the line. Rummaging through the cabinet, wincing at the soft crackle of cellophane wrappers, Michelle pulled out a couple of granola bars. Quickly opening the refrigerator, she grabbed a few water bottles also. Totally a gourmet meal.

Sneaking quietly out the door, she walked, making as little noise as possible, to Loki's 'jail.' Quietly, as to not alert Natasha with her super-spy hearing, she knocked on Loki's door. A shuffling sound came from the other side, before the door was opened, with some difficulty, by Loki. He looked, puzzled, down at Michelle.

She looked sheepishly up at him, her arms full of stereotypical camping food.

He moved out of the way, hopping comically back to the couch which he'd been sitting on. She walked in behind him, and she would've laughed if she wasn't still semi-afraid of Loki. Sitting the stuff on the table neatly, she took one of the water bottles and unscrewed the lid, holding it out to him. Making the most of his limited hand movements, he took it from her, drinking gratefully.

A moment later, it was his turn to look sheepish as he glanced at the kind little girl. She smiled. "Why so silent?" she asked quietly.

"...thank you." Loki said, grateful that she would do anything for him after all of the awful crimes he had committed. He really was not in control; it was not just his trickster side deceiving the little girl.

Michelle smiled faintly at Loki. "No problem." Michelle said, backing away with a wave. Loki watched her leave and close the door, not seeing her lean against it for support once it was closed. She took a deep breath, calming her nerves. That...wasn't so bad, but she couldn't stop herself from being terrified In his presence. With a muffled yawn, Michelle decided to go back to bed, and that is precisely what she did.

* * *

Exacty five minutes from when Michelle crawled back into her bed, Jane jumped out of bed, running to the bathroom. Thor awoke to the sound of Jane...erm...tossing her cookies. "Jane?" he called, jumping up and running to her, worried. Though unaware that this is a sweet thing to do on Earth, he instinctively pulled her hair back, rubbing her back comfortingly. A moment later, she stood shakily, shooing Thor out.

"Let me get cleaned up." Jane mumbled. Thor, unsure what to do, went over to Tony's cabin. When in doubt, ASK PEPPER.

Thor knocked on their door, a sleepy Pepper appearing a moment later. It's not quite six thirty! "Yes, Thor?" Pepper asked, not criticizing him because of his nervous look.

"Lady Jane is ill and I was told by the man of iron to come to you if I needed anything-"

Pepper held up a hand to stop him. "Okay, it'll be alright, big guy. Let's go get Bruce, he can help." Pepper said, going into get-stuff-done mode, patting Thor comfortingly. Slipping on her robe, she walked to Bruce's cabin, Thor trailing behind her, worried for his love.

Bruce awoke to a knock that was distinctly Pepper's; Thor's was too loud for this, Natasha and Clint would just hack the lock, Tony's was a degree softer than Thor's, and Steve wouldn't knock this early. Slipping on his glasses, Bruce opened the door.

Pepper's businesslike expression startled him. "Jane's sick." Pepper said, and Bruce nodded. He grabbed his big upgraded first aid kit, and two minutes later, they were in Thor's bedroom.

Jane looked up from the bed. "Thoooor." moaned Jane, closing her eyes. "I'm fine." As Bruce set up his equipment, Pepper sat carefully on the edge of the bed, feeling Jane's forehead.

"No fever." Pepper reported. "Jane, what's wrong?" Pepper asked gently, looking imploringly at the brunette.

Jane sighed. "I... I don't know. I started feeling dizzy a week or so ago...and I've been getting more and more tired lately." This made Thor's worried look increase.

Pepper raised an eyebrow. "And you just 'got sick'?" Pepper asked. Jane nodded. As Bruce started to go around Pepper to look at Jane, she held up a hand to stop him. "Honey, either you're very, very sick, or you're very, very pregnant."

.

.

.

"What?" Jane said, stunned. Is that...possible? Thor's an Asguardian! _Should_ that be possible? She looked up at Thor to see his reaction.

He also looked momentarily stunned, and then he beamed. "THIS IS WONDEROUS NEWS!" He declared, causing everyone else in the room to wince.

"Thor. It is not yet seven in the morning. Inside. Voice." Pepper commanded. Thor obediently shut up, but continued to beam.

Jane looked at Bruce, waiting for the doctor to confirm or dismiss Pepper's theory...but when is Pepper ever wrong?

"We can't know for sure until we do a test," Bruce said. "We have equipment at Stark Towers to do the bloodwork." His tone was gentle, as a doctor should be.

Jane got over the shock, and faintly smiled. For confirmation, Jane asked, "Pepper, have you ever been wrong?"

"No." Pepper answered promptly.

Jane smiled again, sleepily. "Good." she murmured. Thor's smile widened, and then he realized how tired Jane was. Pepper stood, walking away with a wave and a smile, happy for them. Bruce paused.

"I don't recommend telling anyone until the bloodwork... Pepper's never been wrong, but there's a first time for everything." Bruce said, ever the cautious one. He left also.

Thor pressed a gentle kiss to Jane's forehead. "Rest, Lady Jane." He commanded gently. Jane closed her eyes, not even protesting about the title.

And all of this happened without waking a single assassin.

* * *

_**:D Yeah, Pepper's never wrong. Should it be a girl or a boy? Vote for names. But I already have an idea...**_


	18. Chapter 17

_**Well! It's obvious what gender you want! One vote for twins, and EVERY OTHER VOTE for a girl. Well. I am surprising you all with the name, and thanks for the inspiration. **_

* * *

A few hours later, after everyone had eaten breakfast and gotten up, they split up. Not all at once, but slowly, they grouped off. The ladies and Will decided that they wanted to go on a hike, so they gathered their supplies. Mr. Joyce, ever the gentleman, took the supplies, then promptly staggering and falling over. Natasha, with a dry look, held out her hand for the stuff. Mr. Joyce, with a sheepish look, handed them over to the assassin.

With a laugh, she hefted the giant backpack full of junk over her shoulder easily, stretching a hand out to help up Mr. Joyce. He accepted the help, and the fact he was far outmuscled. '_Thank you.' _he signed.

"No problem." Natasha replied, looking toward the others walking up. Michelle, Pepper, and Jane walked up, decked out in hiking boots and gear, while Natasha was in her SHIELD uniform.

"What're you wearing?" Jane asked, puzzled at her different clothes.

"SHIELD uniform." Natasha replied. When that didn't explain why, she continued. "Trust me, it's far better for hiking than those." She pointed at the boots. Jane smiled, realizing she was probably right.

They unconsciously split into groups, Michelle and Natasha going first, Jane and Pepper second, and William decided to be last. Happily, they walked up the mountain, enjoying the scenery.

* * *

Meanwhile, the boys were left alone.

Tony had water guns.

War is inevitable.

Tony and Clint teamed up, the other team comprised of Steve and Thor. Team Super-Awesome-Ninja-Genius versus Team Blondie, (both named by Tony.)

Clint crouched on a roof, Tony hiding behind the adjacent building. Steve had his shield out, which is a CHEATY, CHEATY move, but no one could argue lest they lose their position. Steve walked slowly, closer and closer to the space between Tony and Clint.

"Oi, Clint, you sure you can use a water gun? They don't make water bow-and-arrows." Tony whispered into the comm.

Clint rolled his eyes. "Shut up before I go rogue and shoot you instead of Steve." he threatened. He lifted the gun, aiming carefully, waiting for Steve to take one more step...

"Thor, I don't see them," Steve called softly, exactly one step from target zone.

"Perhaps they are this way?" Thor suggested, walking back the other way. Steve followed.

Plan B.

* * *

In order to get to the rest of the path, the group had to go over a rock. Natasha climbed to the top easily, helping Michelle over with a steadying hand. It wasn't a big boulder, but Natasha was still there with a steadying hand for everyone. Pepper smiled at Natasha as she used Natasha's hand for balance.

Jane hung back, feeling dizzy, and William went next. No one could tell how she felt; that is, until Natasha looked at her.

"Jane?" Natasha landed beside her, dropping down. "Are you okay?" Natasha asked softly, worried. Jane started to protest, but wavered. She would've fallen if Natasha hadn't caught her. "Jane!"

"M'fine." Jane murmured, sitting on the grass. "I got dizzy for a second." She closed her eyes, willing the world to stop careening out of control.

Natasha's emergency instincts went into hyperdrive. "Put your head between your knees." Natasha said gently. "Deep, slow breaths." She instructed. Jane did as told, and a minute later, looked up again.

"Thank you." Jane said, dizziness gone but still not feeling up to par.

"Natasha? Jane?" Pepper called, worried.

"Stay there, we're turning back." Natasha told Jane. Before she could protest, Natasha climbed to the other side.

"Jane doesn't feel well, we're turning back." Natasha said. No one protested, but Pepper's eyes widened-how could she not have seen this coming?

A minute or two later, they were all ready to go back down, Michelle glancing over her shoulder often, worried.

* * *

Clint and Tony snuck along behind the guys, almost there...

CRACK!

Tony stepped on a twig. (*all readers facepalm*)

Steve and Thor whirled around to see a startled Tony standing alone, a poof of dust the only evidence Clint was there. Tony threw up his hands, yelling "Traitor!" Team Blondie advanced, pulling back the little thingy that pressurizes the water, ready to spray him and win...

SHHHHHPPPPPPPPPPPLLOOOSH!

Clint sprayed them from the top of Cabin Assassin, completely out of reach and standing triumphant. "They never look up." he chuckled.

Steve and Thor stood, dripping wet and looking dejected, Tony jumping around like a bunny on steroids, and Clint holding his gun in the air in triumph, silhouetted by the afternoon sun. The moment was ended when the hiking crew arrived, unnoticed.

"What. Is. Going. On?!" Pepper yelled, startling the heck out of Tony.

"We were, uh, um, we..." stuttered Tony. Why were they back already! He should've had time to clean up!

"Why exactly are you on the roof, oh idiotic husband of mine?" Natasha asked with a dry expression.

"Oh, ya know. " Clint said, posing like he was going to fly off the roof. "Bein' a hawk."

Natasha facepalmed at her idiotic hubby, Pepper scowled at her own idiotic genius, and Jane walked over to Thor, wiping the water out of his eyes with an amused look. Michelle glanced around, confused.

"Where's Bruce?" she asked. The people not currently involved in talking to their significant others looked around.

"Over here." Bruce called, peeking his head out of his cabin. "Is it safe to come out?" he asked, looking around.

"You're good!" Michelle called, struggling not to laugh at Tony being chewed out.

Pepper paused in her rant. "And look, you probably scared poor Bruce half to death! You left him unarmed in a water war! HE WAS TRAPPED IN HIS CABIN!"

With a laugh, Bruce started on the impossible task of convincing Pepper that she should not, in fact, kill her boyfriend.

* * *

_**You want to see a sad music video? Whisky Lullaby. Go watch. :) Anyway, I leave for vacation tomorrow, so g'bye! **_

_**TO FLORIDAAAAAAAAA! Where it's supposed to be raining and riptides and someone drowned like a week ago in front of my condo. Yay. :| WELL, it's a week at the beach, who'm I to complain? **_

_**-JoMiSm**_


	19. Chapter 18

_**Back from: Florida, then my cousin's house, then a water park, then my grandma-without-wifi's house. **_

* * *

The boys dragged Pepper to the lake, but before Natasha could follow, Jane wavered beside her. "Jane?" Natasha asked, alarmed and instantly steadying the brunette.

Jane leaned into the support. "I'm sorry." Jane murmured. She didn't like feeling like she was forcing someone to help her, though Natasha could _never _be forced to do anything.

Natasha glanced up. The group was far ahead, but Thor was hanging back, looking, puzzled, at the girls. He didn't seem to know what was going on, but he started back toward them. No one but Michelle seemed to notice, but she was a little preoccupied in trying to not step on her fishing pole.

Natasha looked back at Jane, having taken in all of that in half a moment. "Don't apologize, just... sit down." Natasha said, her eyes landing on the picnic tables that were nearby. Carefully, Natasha led Jane to the benches. Jane was silent, leaning against Natasha with her eyes closed. To her, it felt like the world was spinning out of control. "Jane, what's going on?" Natasha's mind was racing through all of the awful things that could make you feel like this that she had firsthand experience with- poison, drugs, blood loss... the list goes on.

Jane remembered that she really wasn't supposed to say anything until they were sure. "Nothing." Jane said, slowly lifting her head from Natasha's supporting shoulder. "I'm fine." Lies.

Thor worriedly approached them. "Lady Natasha? Is she alright?" Jane looked...dazed. That hardly ever meant anything good.

Jane started to answer, but Natasha interrupted. "No, but she won't tell me what's wrong." Natasha looked irritated, meaning...she's worried.

Jane looked up at Thor, exchanging a look. Oh, great.

Jane stood shakily, reaching out to Thor. Thor assumed Natasha's previous position, supporting her. "Come." said Thor gently. "You should lie down." They started off toward the cabin.

Natasha appeared in front of them like a ninja. "Thor, what's wrong?"

"Nothing is wrong, Lady Natasha." Thor said, avoiding her eyes. She would be able to tell immediately if she looked into his eyes, and besides, nothing was wrong. It was good news. They walked past her as her eyes flashed. They were trying to hide something-from her?

"Thor." Natasha said dangerously. Thor instinctively looked up at his name-ha! Natasha read his face even though he looked back down a second later, realizing his mistake. "Anything you want to tell me?" Natasha said, amused now.

Thor sighed. "LadyJanemayormaynotbepregnantbutDrBanneradvisedus toremainquietaboutituntilweknowforsure." he murmured under his breath like a guilty child.

Natasha's eyes flashed with an unknown emotion before she was back to her icy self. "Would it not have been easier to say that outright rather than have me worried about poison and such?" Natasha asked. Thor nodded sheepishly. "Okay, lesson learned, don't hide things from Natasha. You're free to go." Natasha stepped aside and Thor gave up and lifted Jane, carrying her protesting form into the cabin.

Natasha walked toward the others.

* * *

_**What they were doin' this whole time...**_

Thor walked away from the group, but it was unnoticed in the flurry of activity happening. The struggle between Michelle and her fishing pole was just ridiculous-Tony didn't have any for her size, so she carried one that was nearly twice as tall as she was-she was not a tall seven year old. Michelle's father kept offering to take it for her, but Michelle protested that she could do it all by herself. Tony was trying to convince Pepper that it was going to be fun, and Pepper was trudging along behind him, highly doubting that. Bruce was walking with Cap, and they were quietly observing scenery, oblivious to Tony's loud promises of fun, and Clint was using his fishing pole as a lightsaber-WATCH OUT! Oof! The fishing pole connected with Tony's stomach. Now Tony was chasing around a laughing Clint, swinging his fishing pole.

That is the scene Natasha walked up to. Suddenly, both Tony and Clint found themselves fishing pole-less and facing an eerily calm Natasha.

"If I give these back, are you going to duel to the death?" Natasha asked impatiently.

"No, Natasha." Clint and Tony chorused, hanging their heads like guilty schoolboys. Natasha handed the poles back to them and they trudged along behind the group.

Natasha moved over to Michelle. "Can I see that?" Natasha asked. Michelle handed her the pole with a quizzical look. "I'll make you a deal. You let your dad carry the fishing pole, and you don't have to walk the rest of the way."

Michelle looked confused. "How would I not have to walk the rest of the way?" Natasha crouched beside Michelle with a sly look. Because Michelle is awesome, she picked up on the hint, handing the pole to her dad.

A minute later, Tony looked around. "Where's Natasha?" he asked.

"Right here." Natasha said, amidst Michelle's giggles and with a smile in her voice. Tony jumped at hearing her so close to him, but Michelle riding piggyback style put him at ease. She wouldn't kill him with a little girl on her back, right?

...

Okay, Michelle wouldn't let her, right?

A few minutes later, they made it to a sparklingly clear shallow part of the lake. Steve and Michelle's father were actually the only two who could cast the line, so they did it for everyone but Natasha. Natasha sat out, watching the others, because she wasn't much of a fisherwoman. After about five minutes of sitting there with nothing happening, all of the fishers propped up their poles.

Somewhere between Tony and Michelle thumb wrestling and Steve gracefully falling into the water, fully clothed, a line got a tug. You'll never guess whose it was.

Michelle, the cliched choice?

Nope.

Steve, the experienced fisherman?

Uh-uh.

The person you all forgot?

Yup.

Pepper was sitting beside Natasha, talking about whatever gingers talk about, when Natasha noticed Pepper's pole fidgeting. "Um, Pepper... Isn't that your pole?" Natasha asked, pointing to the fishing pole propped against a rock.

"Oh, my gosh, it is!" Pepper scrambled up from her cross-legged position and cautiously picked up the pole.

"Guys?" Pepper said, looking confusedly at the pole.

The guys were all gathered around Michelle and Tony's extremely competitive thumb-wrestling match. No one looked up.

"Guys?" Pepper tried again, over her shoulder. She poked at the spinny-looking thing. It spun, true to its appearance, and let out more line. Well, isn't that counter-productive? Pepper cautiously tried the other way. The line came in, feeling taught under the struggles of the poor fish. Slowly, Pepper pulled it in. "Aww," Pepper murmured. "You're a cute little guy."

The little fish wriggled around pathetically, looking up at Pepper (she swore it looked pleading.) with its one good eye.

"Oh. Oh, you poor thing!" Pepper said, gently releasing the little silver-tinted fish. It swam away quickly, Pepper feeling happy because the little fish was okay. Simple pleasure. She went back and sat with Natasha again.

An hour later, they were walking back.

"I can't believe nobody caught a fish!" Tony complained. Pepper and Natasha exchanged a look, Natasha with a sly smile and Pepper stifling a laugh. Oh well, what he doesn't know won't hurt him.

* * *

**I didn't feel like writing this... It took me three days... I'm sorry. And school starts soon, meaning WAY LESS updates. August 19, guys. **

**-JoMiSm**


	20. Chapter 19

_**For Elekat! THE FIRST PERSON TO REVIEW WITH THE CODE PHRASE: WE ARE ALL AWESOME FANGIRLS! (unless you're a fanboy, then you have permission to change it.), GETS TO CHOOSE WHICH STORY I UPDATE FIRST! **_

_**P.S. school started... Less frequent updates. There is a poll on my page that will make me update some stories faster...**_

* * *

Later, almost everyone was sitting beside the lake, watching the sun set, gently setting the water aglow. The only people who were missing were Thor and Jane. Michelle was slowly getting more worried for Jane, whom she barely knew, but she couldn't find a way to ask Natasha in the midst of the others. While she was absentmindedly lost in thought, the conversation turned to her.

She was startled back to reality when Tony said, "You know, Michelle, it seems like you've been eight for... Forever. When's your birthday?"

Michelle thought for a moment. "What day is tomorrow?" Michelle asked.

Tony clicked on his phone, checking the date. His smile faded. "...June fourteenth." Exactly two weeks after school ended... And also... The Battle of Manhattan. It had, of course, been nagging at the back of everyone's mind, but everyone, especially Tony and Michelle, had lost track of time. The chatter quieted, and Michelle looked down.

"My birthday's a week from tomorrow, then." Michelle said softly. Everyone's thoughts went to the same thing... Michelle's birthday was seven days after she lost her mom.

Michelle's father suddenly stood, signing something hurriedly that no one caught before walking briskly away, his head down. No one needed to be reminded of the horrible events of that day, least of all him.

Michelle hesitated for a moment before following, saying, "I'll be right back."

She never came back.

Several hours later, everyone went to bed, their moods thoroughly dampened. All were haunted by bad dreams: Tony was stuck in space, the portal closing too quickly. Clint was forced to kill Natasha, under mind control, and he did indeed wake just long enough to see his work... But Loki didn't do him the favor of killing him. Thor watched helplessly as his brother killed the innocent mortals he had come to love, and Steve had to witness all of his teammates deaths. Bruce lost control, and rather than saving Tony, smashed him. Natasha had to watch her partner be heartbreakingly killed by Loki before the god came for her...

Of all of the avengers, it was only Natasha who was awoken by a soft knock on the door. Immediately alert, shaking off the dream, Natasha opened the door gingerly. Michelle stood on the other side, a blanket draped loosely around her shoulders, her eyes red from crying. No words were exchanged between them; Natasha simply, silently, ushered Michelle in. No questions about why she was there at twelve thirteen at night; she already knew why Michelle couldn't sleep.

They walked up the stairs, Michelle before Natasha, and a moment later, Natasha was standing beside the bed, looking down upon a sleeping Clint. Natasha gently shook his shoulder, not surprised when Clint jumped into a defensive position instinctively. He relaxed when he realized it was her.

"Get up, I'm kicking you out." Natasha said. Clint looked between Natasha and the tearful Michelle, standing up without hesitation.

"I knew she'd kick me out one day." Clint declared to Michelle with a wink, his voice still drowsy. He won a small smile from the girl, and left for the couch in triumph.

Natasha sat on the bed, patting the spot beside her. Michelle snuggled under the covers, deliberately not making eye contact until Natasha lifted her chin. When Michelle's eyes met Natasha's, Michelle burst into silent tears.

"Oh, Michelle." murmured Natasha, scotching Michelle over fractionally to make room for herself.

"Why did... It have... To be her...?" Michelle sobbed. She'd been without her mother for a year, and she'd never have her mother again, and it was only because her mother couldn't leave a helpless patient behind. It just wasn't fair!

"I don't know, Michelle." Natasha murmured, stroking Michelle's hair as the almost-eight-year-old cried onto her shoulder.

Natasha continued to do her best to comfort Michelle, continuing to gently stroke her hair until she fell asleep. Natasha, however, never fell back asleep that night, still haunted by Michelle's heartbroken whimpers.

* * *

_**Aww I know I know it's sad sob sob next chappie Will be more cheerful. **_


End file.
